Gaming magnate Stanley Ho’s heirs may lose two Portuguese casino licenses to a higher bid by a rival company.
The late Ho’s family is bidding to continue operating the Casino Lisboa, in the capital city, and Casino do Estoril, located in Cascais. Their company is Estoril Sol SGPS SA, whose 57.8 percent shareholder is the Ho family. Pansy Ho, Stanley Ho’s eldest daughter, is chairman of the company.
Both licenses expire in December and the government invited bids in August for a 15-year license. There were two bids: the Ho family and a bid by an undisclosed company.
In a regulatory filing disclosure, Estoril Sol commented, “Overall, the competing offer had a higher value than the offer presented by our own subsidiary.” The government will now evaluate the two bids.
Casino do Estoril is one of the largest casinos in Europe. It has slots, a gaming room, extensive dining and a showroom with a capacity for 1,000 guests.
Stanley Ho built the Macau casino district in China into the largest gaming center in the world when Macau was a Portuguese territory. He died in 2020 at age 98. He held the Estoril license for several decades.
