Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN APR 2019 38 IN FOCUS claims and counter-claims that threatened to spiral out of control, the family truce – said by some to have been engineered by Beijing – was finally agreed in 2011 and saw Pansy Ho named a director of STDM, while Leong was guaranteed the role of Managing Director of SJM for a period of six years. That period expired in 2017. In a January 2019 note titled “Let the game of casino thrones begin”, Deutsche Bank research analyst Karen Tang suggested that formation of the new Pansy Ho-Fok alliance could well be the first step towards removing SJM’s current management, including Leong. “We see a risk that, when the current terms of board directorships expire for Leong and her associates, namely SJM’s CEO (Dr Ambrose So) and COO (Louis Ng), they may not be re-elected again,” Tang wrote. “We believe the COO’s term expires in June 2019 and the other two in June 2020.” Notably, aside from promising to submit a “common proposal” for the election of STDM board members in 2019, the alliance also stated that the parties “will support the nomination and election of person(s) who promote good governance of the SJM board, including Chairman, Co-Chairman and Director(s). The parties will submit a common proposal for the election of the board of SJMSA, the Macau-incorporated company which holds the gaming concession.” While Leong is unlikely to go quietly, the appointment of Daisy Ho – a close ally of her sister Pansy – as SJM Holdings Chairman after Dr Ho officially stepped down from the board last June is intriguing. Clearly there is more of this saga to be written in the coming months. The succession plan at Sands appears more clear-cut. Adelson himself has laid the pathway for a relatively smooth transition once he exits the company, with son- in-law and current CFO Patrick Dumont having long been groomed to step into the leadership role. In a March note, analysts at brokerage Bernstein opined that news of Adelson’s cancer battle “should not cause investor alarm with respect to LVS or Sands China. The companies both have strong management teams and there is an internal succession contingency in place in the event of Mr Adelson’s inability to perform his duties as Chairman and CEO.” Although full details of such a succession plan have not been released publicly, Bernstein added, “The company has a capable management team running the operations and remains in good hands under the leadership of President and COO Rob Goldstein and CFO Patrick Dumont. “AlongwithSandsChinaPresident andCOOWilfordWong and Chief of Staff Grant Chum, and a capable cohort of direct reports in the US, Macau and Singapore, the management