Manotick, ON -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/10/2011 -- Ottawa-based developer GCN Canada, Inc. has announced that it has signed a US$850 Million financing agreement with the Egyptian finance company Hiram Estates Investments of Nasr City, Cairo (http://www.hei-eg.com/). The funding is to be used to construct the Emerald Coast Plaza Resort Hotel, which is a principal feature of the initial phase of its multi-billion dollar Emerald Coast Financial & Tourism Free Zone Project on the coast of Cameroon (see http://www.gcncanada.com for project details).
The Emerald Coast Plaza Resort Hotel will be a 30-storey luxury hotel and condominium combo featuring a 250-room 5-star hotel in its lower 10 stories and 200 luxury condominiums in the top 20 floors, built above a grand duty-free shopping mall and entertainment center and casino, overlooking the development’s 2 km-long private beach. It will be the central focus of a larger complex with a boardwalk, fine dining restaurants, a business and financial center, and a full service deep water marina, and forms an integral part of the core Emerald Coast Development. Later Phases will see the construction of luxury villas and time-share chalets, a golf course, an arts and entertainment center with live theatre and movieplex, a convention center, an artificial island with additional luxury accommodations, and more. The financial and off-shore banking activities that will be the main engine of the Emerald Coast Development will be initially housed in the hotel/mall until the separate financial district is completed sometime in Years 3-4 of construction.
Mr. Emad Mahgoub, Chairman of Hiram Estates Investments, has had extensive experience with banks and finance institutions in the Middle East, and has worked with Al Mashriq Bank, BNP Paribas, Al Watany Bank of Egypt, and National Societe General Bank.
Recent finance projects undertaken by Hiram Estates Investments include a US$500 Million biomass plant project in Brazil for the SWISS Group of Sao Paolo, and a US$300 Million real estate project in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for CONEL CAPITAL Pte. Ltd. of Singapore.
Despite the current political unrest in Egypt, Mr. Maghoub is confident that this will not affect his firm’s ability to realize the financing for GCN Canada Inc. as the banks he will be dealing with are in Qatar and Bahrain. The terms of the financing agreement grant Hiram Estates Investments the exclusive rights to funding this particular aspect of the Project, and do not limit GCN Canada Inc. from accessing financing for other Phases from additional lenders.
Mr. Maghoub is confident that financing arrangements will be concluded within 3 months, and the financing terms he will secure for the hotel will be very reasonable and well within acceptable banking convention. H.E. Robert Sabga, President and CEO of GCN Canada Inc., has expressed his delight at the signing of the agreement, and is looking forward to breaking ground on this key initial aspect of the Project:
“We are very pleased to be working with Mr. Maghoub in this venture. He comes highly recommended by CONEL’s CEO Mr. Young Cheon Kim, and also by Mr. Edda Silvestro, President of the Swiss Group out of Brazil. I have no doubt that through his extensive banking connections we will very soon realize the funding required to start this phase of construction. We are excited, and we know that all of Cameroon will be elated to learn that the Emerald Coast Project is now well on its way to starting operations.”
Financing for other phases is being negotiated with companies in the UK, USA, and Hong Kong, and are in different stages of completion. Enquiries on the Emerald Coast Project may be made to GCN Canada Inc.’s Monty Elsabbagh at pr@gcncanada.com, and/or by visiting the company’s website http://www.gcncanada.com.