The Las Vegas Sands Corp. is seeking SG$8 billion (US$5.9 billion) in funding to expand Marina Bay Sands, one of two integrated resort properties in Singapore along with Genting’s Resorts World Sentosa.
The Reuters news agency reports that MBS has engaged four banks to hold the financing, which includes SG$4 billion of new debt plus an extension to its existing financing. According to Inside Asian Gaming, this is the first time in seven years that MBS has sought new debt; in 2012 it closed a SG$5.1 billion deal with 28 lenders.
One banker told the news agency the full amount may be hard to come by. “Marina Bay Sands would have to woo both existing and new lenders to achieve success with this exercise,” the banker said. “The borrower has not raised such a size before and it is also unprecedented for the market in Singapore.”
But as the most profitable casino in the world with EBITDA of US$423 million for the first quarter of 2019, MBS may find investment easy to come by. A Singapore-based loan banker at a Chinese bank told Reuters, “We are keen to participate. There’s no issue for us to join a casino deal and take large take-and-hold positions in the sector.”
In April, both MBS and its sole rival in the market, Genting Singapore’s Resorts World Sentosa, were granted approval by the Singapore Tourism Board to embark on major expansions with each to spend around SG$4.5 billion (US$3.3 billion). In return the government has promised to extend the operators’ duopoly in the market into 2030.
MBS will build a 15,000-seat indoor arena and a 1,000-suite luxury hotel tower and also add meeting and convention space.
