The financing of Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd's (PBL) Macau casino joint venture has been restructured as a consequence of the global credit crunch. Melco PBL Entertainment Ltd (MPEL) says it has signed a USD 1.75 billion senior debt facility with a syndicate of six major international banks rather than the original USD 2.75 billion finance deal announced in June.
Hong Kong - When the Venetian Macau, the world's largest casino, opened its doors last week, Macau completed its transformation from colonial backwater to the Las Vegas of Asia. And, going strictly by the numbers, that transformation has been a winning bet. In the space of five years, thanks to its booming gambling industry, Macau has overtaken the Las Vegas Strip as the richest gambling market on the planet. Consequently, the city's economy is surging, with per capita gross domestic product (GDP) surpassing neighboring Hong Kong's last year.
Hong Kong: The new casinos popping up in Macau in the past three years have helped the Chinese territory surpass the Las Vegas Strip as the world's most lucrative gambling center. This week, the city begins its most ambitious - and perhaps riskiest - phase of development with Tuesday's opening of the USD 2.4 billion (EUR 1.75 billion) Venetian Macao Resort Hotel. It's the latest mega project from American billionaire Sheldon Adelson, chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp.
James Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting has told analysts that mass-market gambling at its newly opened Macau Crown casino is trading below expectations, prompting it to increase its focus on wealthier gamblers. The six-star casino had a strong start with VIP gamblers, with chip turnover rising significantly from last month, PBL executives reportedly said at a market briefing in Sydney yesterday. Crown Macau is the first of three casinos PBL and its partner Melco are developing in the former Portuguese colony. It has only been fully open for business for about three weeks.
Stanley Ho (Founder and managing director SJM): The elusive billionaire had a 40-year monopoly on Macao gambling and remains one of the world's biggest casino operators, despite inroads by American companies, such as Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd., that have cut his market share nearly in half. Ho is countering with more elaborate casinos, including the Grand Lisboa, which debuted in February, and two outsized casino projects, Oceanus and Ponte 16.
Ten minutes by helicopter or one hour by hydrofoil from Hong Kong, the former Portuguese colony of Macau is crammed onto a couple of tiny islands and a peninsula jutting from the Chinese mainland. Only half the size of Sydney Harbour, it has just overtaken the Las Vegas Strip to become the gaming capital of the world. But the boom has only just begun. Cranes crowd the skyline as new casinos and hotels spring up on reclaimed land. And high-speed ferries stream across the Pearl River estuary from Hong Kong like trucks down a busy freeway.
A new class of hopeful croupiers has just walked through the door of the Lucky Gaming Training Centre in Macau and already they are being put through their paces. Dotted around rows of green baize gaming tables, the new recruits giggle nervously as they try to shuffle and deal the cards under the watchful eye of their instructors. In three months' time these cooks, drivers and shop assistants hope to be employed in one of Macau's many casinos.
First Casino Scheduled to Open on Macau's Cotai Strip Will Use GCA's Full Suite of Services
James Packer's Macau gaming joint venture, Melco PBL Entertainment, has taken on more debt to help fund climbing construction costs for its City of Dreams casino complex on the Cotai strip. The cost of building and designing the project, which includes a casino, shops, three hotels and a block of serviced apartments, has jumped 23 per cent to USD 1.85 billion (AUD 2.2 billion), the company said in a statement to the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.
New York (Reuters) - Wynn Resorts Ltd. said on Thursday it plans to slow expansion at its Macau casino amid increasing competition and slowing travel to the Chinese gambling haven. Wynn also said its board of directors approved a program that will allow it to buy back up to USD 1.2 billion in stocks and convertible bonds.
Lai Sun Development Co, a Hong Kong real estate developer, and its media unit have hired Deutsche Bank AG and Morgan Stanley to arrange USD 1.7 billion in loans for a casino project in Macau. The loans will be used to fund development and construction of the hotel, retail and entertainment portions of Macao Studio City, a 3.65 million square-foot project, Lai Sun and ESun Holdings Ltd said in a joint statement to Hong Kong's stock exchange on Friday. The site is located in Macau's Cotai district, the companies said.
Shares of Melco PBL slid 6% Monday after the gaming company delayed unveiling "VIP" rooms at its first casino in Macau, which opened over the weekend. "Crown Macau debuted on May 12 with elegant décor and a packed mass gaming floor. But the VIP rooms have yet to be opened. Slow ramp-up of VIP volume would hurt market share in early months," Deutsche Bank analyst Karen Tang said in a research note Monday.
