Macau gaming concessionaire SJM Holdings will take over the day-to-day operations of Diamond Casino, located inside a Holiday Inn on the Macau peninsula.
The property’s current manager, long-time Stanley Ho associate Christine Szeto Yuk-lin, had planned to shut down the Diamond by the end of July. According to an internal staff memo viewed by Inside Asian Gaming, the casino was negatively affected by a lack of business since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak.
“Due to the pandemic and no income for the past 18 months, our casino and other departments will stop operating from 31 July 2021,” the memo stated. “Thank you for all your contribution to the company. I feel helpless about this decision.”
Chinese-language media outlet All-In reports that SJM would operate the casino directly via a subsidiary, SJM Resorts Ltd., which holds the company’s Macau gaming concession. Diamond Casino is one of 14 third-party or “satellite” casinos operating under that license.
In related news as reported by GGRAsia, SJM is in negotiations with the SAR government to launch gaming operations at Lisboeta Macau, according to Vice-Chairman and CEO Ambrose So.
Lisboeta, located alongside SJM’s new HK$39 billion Cotai integrated resort Grand Lisboa Palace (GLP), has already opened some attractions, including an indoor skydiving facility, a zipline and some retail outlets. The property is operated by Macau Theme Park And Resort (MTPR), a company owned by SJM Holdings Co-Chair and Executive Director Angela Leong and overseen by her son, Arnaldo Ho.
Arnaldo Ho previously said the property would be a theme park only, not part of an integrated resort. But So told Hong Kong-based Chinese-language media outlet Ming Pao that SJM has been considering operating a casino at Lisboeta under a self-promoted model. He said a Lisboeta casino would target mass market customers rather than the premium tier expected to patronize GLP.
Covering some 141,000 square meters (35 acres), Lisboeta will include three hotels.
