Inside Asian Gaming

April 2014 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 21 a recent note to investors in which it estimates an initial outlay by Genting of about $153 million as part of a two-phased development in which the company’s commitment will increase to $250 million in line with a Korean investment requirement of $500 million to qualify for licensing. “We find it unlikely—given Jeju gaming dynamics—that Genting’s Jeju IR will exceed the investment threshold,” the firm said. “In our view, in order to justify a US$2.2 billion investment in South Korea, 1) the government would have to allow locals to gamble, and more importantly, 2) the IR would need to be located in a major metropolitan area like Seoul, rather than an offshore island like Jeju that doesn’t have the benefit of a massive local population base.” UGRMbelieves the gaming portion could feature up to 100 tables and the hotel“a few hundred”rooms and projects a 2017 opening for the first phase, with the second coming on line in 2019. Publicly traded Genting Singapore is majority owned by Malaysian resort conglomerate Genting Bhd, whose extensive gaming holdings through various subsidiaries include the $5 billion Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore; the company’s Malaysian flagship, Resorts World Genting, at the mountaintop Genting Highlands holiday complex north of Kuala Lumpur; a beachfront casino and hotel in Bimini in the Bahamas; Resorts World New York City at Aqueduct racetrack in Queens, N.Y., the top-grossing machine gambling operation in the United States; and Resorts World Manila, the revenue leader in the Philippines market, where the company is developing a second Manila megaresort in partnership with local property giant Alliance Global. Aggressive expansion plans include destination casinos in Miami and on the Las Vegas Strip and a non-gaming hotel in Macau. Japan also is in the company’s sights. Another Malaysian company, Berjaya Corp Bhd, broke ground on a sprawling resort and residential property development on Jeju last year partnership with the government-owned Jeju Free International City Development Center. Priced at over $2 billion, Jeju Airest City Berjaya Jeju Resort is scheduled for completion in 2017, consisting of 1,520 condo units and 1,093 hotel rooms in addition to the island’s largest shopping center, an array of leisure and entertainment offerings and a medical center. Rendering of the Jeju resort under development by Genting Singapore and Landing International “We are excited about the opportunity to expand our network and brands to Asia. Foreign visitation to South Korea has grown significantly, and we look forward to creating a world-class destination to further support Korea’s economic growth and tourism goals.” Caesars Chairman Gary Loveman In Focus