SJM IPO

A $1 billion IPO planned by tycoon Stanley Ho’s Macau flagship gives investors a rare chance to bet on a casino boom that has been funded mostly by loans, and more public markets capital-raising is on the cards.
Given the billions required to finance a planned construction spree and the change in funding needs as a [...]

Macau tourism booming

The number of visitors to the tiny island of Macau rose by an impressive 23 per cent last year, putting the number at 27 million arrivals and the casino capital of the Far East on track to surpass Hong Kong this year.
Hong Kong received 28 million visits last year, a jump of 10 per cent.
Macau [...]

NJ’s MGM probe continues

The efforts by MGM Mirage to open a casino halfway around the world have led to a review of whether there’s a conflict of interest within the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. For nearly three years, the division has been conducting an investigation into MGM’s partner in the Chinese enclave of Macau. The partner, [...]

Review of the Cotai Strip’s Venetian Macao

The Venetian Macao on Macau’s Cotai Strip outshines any competition in its trailblazing pace…as the largest most spectacular Integrated Resort in the world. My Turbojet dash across the South China Sea brought along exciting Chinese chatter and fervent debate on what’s really happening on the other side of the Pearl River delta. While [...]

New casinos add to booming gaming revenue

Macao’s casino industry will likely see record gross revenues of 83 billion patacas (10 billion U.S. dollars) in 2007, an increase of 46.5 percent over last year, The Macao Post Daily reported on Wednesday.
The casinos’ gross receipts were expected to reach 8.1 billion patacas (1.03 billion U.S. dollars) in December, the daily quoted a senior [...]

Macau ferry services inadequate

Ticket touts are increasingly working the ferry terminals between Hong Kong and Macau, cashing in on the tourism boom in the territory that has revealed the inadequacy of ferry services, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post reported yesterday.
The public recently complaint about both the lack of ferries and associated ticket scalpers, when Venetian Macao held [...]

Macau visitor volume keeps rising

Macau continues to receive record numbers of visitors, as the number of visitor arrivals reached 2,458,120 in November 2007, representing a year-on-year increase of 26.1%. Visitors from Mainland China and Hong Kong rose by 31.2% and 10.3% respectively, with those from Southeast Asia soared by 85.4%. Meanwhile, same-day visitors accounted for 52.1% of the total [...]

MGM and Dubai consider Macau joint venture

The US based entertainment firm MGM Mirage and Dubai World could make joint investments in Macau and the mainland, according to MGM’s Chairman and CEO Terry Lanni and cited by the Financial Times.
Lanni, who has just seen MGM open its first casino in Macau, said the projects would be ‘non-gaming’.
Dubai World secured a 4.8 per [...]

Junket promoter arrested

A junket promoter who allegedly embezzled his customer’s HK$1 million in a local casino in October was arrested by the Judiciary Police on Wednesday.
The 48-year-old Korean victim reported to police the same day after bumping into the suspect, a 39-year-old Korean surnamed Chung, outside the casino in Taipa where they went to gamble on October [...]

Anti-government protest in Macau

More than 1,000 people marched through Macau streets on Thursday demanding an end to corruption and calling for greater democracy at a time of mounting tensions and social inequalities in the gambling haven.
“Fight for democracy. Protect our livelihood,” shouted the protesters, who brandished banners and shouted slogans denouncing what they called the authorities’ poor and [...]