India-based casino giant Delta Corp has purchased $10 million in equity shares from Jalesh Cruises Mauritius Ltd (JCML). The purchase, made last Friday, came through Delta’s subsidiary Gaussian Software Private Ltd, which entered into an agreement to purchase the shares by June 30.
According to a filing that Jalesh provided, they are intending to buy cruise ships that will sail to areas in the Middle East and India. As part of the agreement with Delta, the company will become the preferred partner for gaming centers and casinos for the cruise liners.
In January, reports surfaced that Zen Cruise Private Ltd has started a new luxury cruise line service that would be in operation by April. This would be an entertainment-centered cruise line, labeled under the brand name Jalesh Cruises. It appears from the timing that Delta has joined in this venture early on, giving them a prime place within the new cruise line.
The announcement comes on the heels of news that the state government of Goa has granted riverboat casinos permission to stay for another six months on the Mandovi River. Goa officials have been struggling to find a more permanent home for its six floating casinos for the past several years. The current plan is to transfer all floating casino operations to a designated land-based gaming zone, which was originally supposed to happen by 2020, although the government recently said this shift might not happen until 2022.
The Jalesh Cruises purchase is the second major investment by Gaussian in just three days. Last Wednesday, Delta and Gaussian combined to purchase nearly 32,000 equity shares from HalaPlay. HalaPlay has become a major player in the fantasy sports business across Southeast Asia, and the move gave Delta and its subsidiary over 15% of the total capital shares in the fantasy sports website.
It has been just 30 months since Delta Corp. purchased 26% of the shares in the Gaussian Network. Gaussian had long been the operator of India’s largest online poker site, Adda52.com, but it has appeared since the start that Delta had much bigger plans for its new subsidiary.
The company has clearly set goals to expand across into Africa, Western Asia, and maybe even further into the Mediterranean by the end of 2022. On the same day that it was announced that Delta and Gaussian would buy the shares in HalaPlay, the company announced a joint venture with MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment to start developing casino resorts in India.
Jalesh Cruises is set to sail with its first cruise liner in April, a ship that will sail from Mumbai to the Middle East.
