Adding $1B in investment
Designers continue to tinker with the plan that will transform Sands Cotai Central into the Londoner Macao. According to Inside Asian Gaming, Sands China, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based Las Vegas Sands Corp., will complete the overhaul and rebranding of the Macau resort by sometime in 2020.
Earlier this month, Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson revealed in the company’s third-quarter earnings call that the company would increase its total investment from US$1.2 billion to US$2.2 billion. Initial work will begin immediately after the Chinese New Year in February. The projects, including the renovated Four Seasons and St. Regis hotels, will start coming online in 2020.
“There has been an increase in the scope of the works,” Sands China President and Chief Operating Officer Wilfred Wong told IAG at the recent MGS Summit. “As we plan, we look at different public areas, different designs and we feel the need to upgrade some of these refurbishments in order for us to remain competitive. Don’t forget that it is still two years away before Sands Cotai Central turns into the Londoner, so we’re really looking ahead and are very happy to invest in the future of Macau.”
To support that investment, Sands China announced in a November 20 filing that it has entered into a loan facility agreement for US$2 billion in revolving unsecured credit.
Interestingly, the Londoner developments will begin to roll out just as the Macau government begins its retendering process, in which the Big 6 casino concessionaires bid for new licenses to operator. Despite the uncertainty, Wong insisted he is “not going to speculate on what the tender requirements will be,” adding, “I have full faith in the Macau government to treat everyone fairly, so we’re confident.”
He did acknowledge potential challenges ahead for all Macau operators due to ongoing trade tensions between the United States and China. Some industry analysts expect the U.S. operators—Sands, Wynn and MGM—to face more challenges in the retender because of their home country, and ties between some executives and U.S. President Donald Trump.
“I think there are certain differences between the east and the west both in terms of their philosophy and their cultural background,” he observed. “And at a time when the western culture is dominating the world everyone follows the rules that are dictated by western culture.
“Now eastern culture is emerging—China, Japan—the eastern culture has emerged and therefore there are certain ways in which we think about a problem and how we look at the world order. That will lead to conflicts and challenges in trade, in military, in other areas and so I think this cultural difference has to be reconciled in order for the world to reach a new world order.”
