The current majority shareholder of Huytenbosh Park announced on Tuesday that it was transferring control of the theme park adjacent to the proposed site of a casino resort in Nagasaki, Japan, to PAG, a Hong Kong-based private asset manager.

Japan-based HIS Co Ltd will sell a 66.67% stake in Huis Ten Bosch (pictured) for 66.6 billion yen ($482 million), it said in a statement on Tuesday.

The announcement made no mention of casino resort proposals for adjacent land, which Casino Austria International is participating in as a private sector partner, and was submitted to the Japanese government in late April for a decision later this year.

According to data released by HIS on Tuesday, suitors PAG believed strengthening the park's consumer appeal, combined with a expected recovery in international tourism to Japan, meant business growth potential for Huis Ten Bosch.

Nagasaki's casino plan was budgeted at 438.3 billion yen and opened "at the earliest" in fiscal 2027.

Casinos at unmanned general resorts (IR) have 150 billion yen in total annual gaming revenue (GGR). Of that, 15% (22.5 billion yen) has to go to the prefecture.

A statement to HIS's Huis Ten Bosch on Tuesday said HIS would buy minority shareholders and convert those shares into treasury stocks before Sept. 30, which would then give PAG 100% control.

PAG valued the operator's total stake at 100 billion yen, according to a statement on Tuesday. The Hong Kong company was involved in the deal in Japanese media reports in July.

Current minority shareholders in Hueysten Bosch are Kyushu Electric Power 13.3%, Saibugas 10.0%, Kyudenko 5.0%, Kyushu Railway 3.3%, and Nishiniphon Railway 1.7%.

HIS has previously hinted at the possibility of listing its Huis Ten Bosch operations on the stock market. The Huis Ten Bosch operations have previously discussed disposals, according to GGRAsia's Japan correspondent.