John Keells Holdings (JKH) is reported to have selected a consortium led by South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and Construction, for a contract worth US $ 522 million to build its integrated resort in Colombo, South Korean media reports said.

According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, Hyundai Engineering and its partner Keangnam Enterprises, who already has a presence in Sri Lanka, are set to complete JKH’s integrated resort by 2017.

The news report further said, Hyundai Engineering holds a 65 percent stake in the project, or US $ 339 million, while Keangnam Enterprises has 25 percent, or $130 million, and the balance by Sri Lanka’s Nawaloka Construction.

The integrated resort is built by Waterfront Properties, a subsidiary company of John Keells.

The shareholders of John Keells recently permitted the company at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to raise money for the project through a mega Rs.40 billion rights issue combined with warrants.

During the EGM, John Keells Chairman Susantha Ratnayake reportedly had said the company would hire a foreign operator to run the gaming operations that will be available in the resort, since John Keells has no experience in that area.

John Keells is believed to be negotiating a deal to acquire a casino license from business figure Dhammika Perera, who owns a few casinos in Colombo.

Meanwhile the government has given approval to another integrated resort in Colombo by Australian gaming mogul James Packer.

Sri Lankan government had stated that it will not issue new gaming licenses but anybody who wants to set up a gaming operation can join up with an existing license holder.