Inside Asian Gaming

February 2015 inside asian gaming 45 The company launched a review of executive compensation last year, according to the Review-Journal report, and has begun to stress pay-for-performance over fixed salaries. Wynn is worth $3.5 billion, according to Forbes . In addition to its flagship Las Vegas resorts, Wynn and Encore, the company is heavily invested in Macau, which has boomed over the last decade to become a significant generator of Wynn’s cash flows. Through its Wynn Macau subsidiary, the company operates two casino hotels in the Chinese city and is spending US$4 billion to develop a third, slated to open in 2016. However, themarket fell off dramatically last year, mainly as a result of plummeting VIP play, and the stocks of its six Hong Kong-traded operators—Wynn Macau included—have taken a beating. Analysts attribute the current woes to a pervasive crackdown directed by the Chinese government on high-level corruption and illicit money flows, aggravated by tighter restrictions on frequent travel from mainland China and generally slower growth in the Chinese economy. a month, and Mr Sands said, “We will be focusing a lot of efforts in China.” High-net-worth Chinese in cities such as Vancouver, London and Toronto are also in Baha Mar’s sights, he said, and projects under discussion include a mutual air services agreement between Air China and Bahamian airlines. “We’re confident there will be sufficient airlift to meet our goals,” he said, noting that JetBlue has added a Los Angeles- Fort Lauderdale flight that will help with the Asian market, while Air Canada plans to increase capacity to the Bahamas starting in March. It will help also that the island nation’s ties with China continue to deepen. A Bahamian delegation recently met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and business executives from Beijing and Shanghai, and collaborations reported to be in the works include an indoor stadium and an agreement on technical and marine research cooperation. In October, China State Construction Engineering agreed to purchase the landmark British Colonial Hilton Nassau Hotel in the center of the Bahamian capital and redevelop it and an adjacent property into a luxury hotel and condominium complex with a roof- top garden, high-end shops and restaurants, a movie theater and nightclub and a marina. The Bahamas, whose economy is almost entirely dependent on tourism, is more than happy to draw closer to its big new friend. “They’re investing everywhere,” Mr Wilchcombe said. ‘The truth is they have the wherewithal to do it.” Wynn Takes $1.5 Million Pay Cut Things are tough all over. Wynn Resorts’ billionaire Chairman and CEO Steve Wynn has been handed a 37.5% pay cut, according to a company filing. The 72-year-old gaming boss has had his contract extended two years, through October 2022, but at a salary of US$2.5 million a year. He was getting $4 million. Also, his compensation will include for the first time a performance-based equity component, according to a corporate statement cited by the Las Vegas Review-Journal . As part of his new deal, he also will have to pay to use the company jet for personal purposes, although this will be offset with a $250,000 credit per year, according to the filing. Wynn spokesman Michael Weaver emphasized that Mr Wynn’s “contributions to the company’s longstanding, consistent achievement over the last decade have been, and continue to be, instrumental in creating significant stockholder value,” and in line with this, his new employment agreement “now places a greater proportion of his overall compensation attributable to components that drive stockholder value versus fixed base salary”. INTERNATIONAL BRIEFS Steve Wynn New Owners for ICE Totally Gaming Europe’s premier gaming industry event organizer, best-known for the casino-focused ICE Totally Gaming show in London, has been sold to private investors for a reported US$300 million. Providence Equity, US-based investors specializing in media, communications, education and information systems, reportedly beat out major names of the likes of Carlyle Group, Penton Media, ITE and Charterhouse Capital Partners to acquire Clarion Events. UK-based Clarion, which produces more than 200 shows and conferences annually—including the European iGaming Congress and Expo and North America’s Global iGaming Summit and Expo—took control of ICE in 2004 after a $76 million buyout by British private equity interests at a time when the International Casino Exhibition, as it was known then, was an offshoot of a British amusement industry trade group. ICE has grown exponentially under Clarion’s management and was moved in 2013 from its original home in an aging West London venue to the new ExCel Centre in the Docklands across town. Last year’s installment was the largest ever, attracting more than 23,000 attendees and 515 exhibitors from a record 156 countries, according to Clarion. Exhibition space covered more than 34,000 square meters. Providence, based in the US state of Rhode Island and with offices in New York, Boston, London, New Delhi, Beijing and Hong Kong, claims more than $40 billion in assets under management and says it plans to invest strongly in its new acquisition.