39 Joey Lim
MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CEO
Donaco International
CLAIMS TO FAME
• Owns boutique border casinos in Cambodia for Thais and Vietnam for Chinese
• Began Donaco with his grandfather, Genting founder Lim Goh Tong
POWER SCORE 635 LAST YEAR 38
For Star Vegas in Poipet, the training wheels are off. Donaco International’s US$360 million acquisition of the largest casino in Cambodia’s border area closest to Bangkok closed in July 2015 with provisions for the seller to manage the casino and guarantee US$60 million in annual EBITDA until the end of fiscal 2017, which fell last 30 June. Now Donaco has taken over management of the complex and is working with international marketing consultant Vivo Tower to expand its outreach.
Star Vegas is vital to Donaco, accounting for 81% of both FY2017 property revenue (AU$136.3 million) and EBITDA (AU$75.9 million). Star Vegas overshadowed Aristo International, Donaco’s casino hotel on Vietnam’s border with China’s Yunnan Province, even though the passing of Thailand’s monarch in October last year depressed the kingdom’s consumer spending in the months that followed.
Joey Lim, the 30-something grandson of Genting Group founder Lim Goh Tong, sees plenty of potential in Aristo from the China market and, depending on the early results of casinos that admit Vietnamese, may choose to up Donaco’s investment to apply for that privilege. More broadly, he believes Donaco has the bulk and experience for bigger projects, including Japan.
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