Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN JUL 2020 8 www.asgam.com Ben Blaschke Managing Editor We crave your feedback. Please email your comments to bb@asgam.com. EDITORIAL Macau’s seventh heaven? W ill Macau welcome a seventh (or even an eighth) gaming licensee once the long- awaited re-tendering process finally gets underway next year? It’s a question that seems to have drifted into the background since the COVID-19 pandemic shifted our attention, but one that will inevitably be raised countless times again in the not too distant future. So humor me for a moment while I revisit the discussion. Even assuming that any seventh gaming license would only be granted to a company with Chinese roots, there will likely be no shortage of potential suitors. Certainly, many of the current satellite and second– tier operators, the likes of Macau Legend (which owns the Macau Fisherman’s Wharf precinct) and influential businessman Chan Meng Kam’s Golden Dragon Group, will count among those sending their resumes. But, those candidates aside, there are three companies that stand out in my mind. The most obvious, of course, is Suncity Group. Best known as Asia’s leading junket with around 50% market share, Suncity has made no secret of its intention to become a recognized casino and resort operator in its own right. With no shortage of ambition, or money, Suncity is in the midst of opening its US$4 billion Vietnam IR Hoiana, holds a 24.74% stake (soon to be 70%) in Summit Ascent Holdings – operator of Russian casino resort Tigre de Cristal – and is set to develop themain hotel and casino at Manila’s Westside City Resorts World. Also in themix for aMacau casino license is Genting Group. One of the world’s largest gaming operators, Genting has a presence in almost every major gaming jurisdiction in the world but is a notable absentee in the biggest market of them all, Macau. It is, however, developing a Macau hotel on land held by one of its subsidiaries, Genting Hong Kong. Finally, as a dark horse for a Macau gaming license, how about Chow Tai Fook? Partners with Suncity in Hoiana, the Hong Kong-based jewelry giant also holds a 4.99% stake in Australia’s Star Entertainment Group and operates the US$4.2 billion Baha Mar mega resort in the Bahamas, which it acquired for a steal in 2016. CTF is no stranger to Macau’s gaming industry, with Chairman Henry Cheng still holding a 9.6% stake in Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, S.A. (STDM), the parent company of Macau concessionaire SJM, purchased from Stanley Ho by his father in the 1980s. And let's not forget the fact that daughter Sonia Cheng oversees Rosewood Hotel Group actively opening its luxury hotels at some of the most prestigious new IR developments around the world, including Hoiana. The Cheng family has serious connections and CTF has influence, so it wouldn’t surprise at all to see them throw their hat into the ring in what promises to be a fascinating race for Macau’s riches.