Inside Asian Gaming

September 2015 inside asian gaming 53 consultant Arthur Andersen, but Macau’s Tender Committee overrode the suggestion. In Singapore, Harrah’s lost to LVS for Marina Bay and dropped out of the contest for Sentosa as it digested Caesars. Caesars almost lost in South Korea, too. The government first rejected its application in partnership with Indonesia’s Lippo Group conglomerate and its Singapore property affiliate OUE. No reasons were given publicly, but the partnership shored up its capital structure and last year won approval. The IR location is Incheon, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of South Korean capital Seoul, on Yeongjong Island, a free economic zone that’s home to the country’s gateway airport, where Korean casino operator Paradise is building an IR with Japanese gaming machine maker Sega Sammy. Caesars helped set the trend here: a request for concepts for two additional casino licenses reportedly received 34 applications, and Korean authorities have designated seven Incheon sites among nine for the final stage. Caesars and partners have agreed to invest at least $800 million to build 500 hotel rooms, a shopping mall, convention center and entertainment venues alongside a casino with about 100 tables and 150 machines. Mr Tight, who helped Caesars build its Asia war chest by selling its Macau golf course for $438 million, says test pilings have been completed on the site, with an official groundbreaking early next year, and opening scheduled for 2018. All new casinos will be for foreigners only, making Korea a play on tourists from China. Northern cities Beijing and Shanghai are closer to Korea than to Macau, and Chinese tourism to Korea has been booming, reaching 6.1 million last year and expected to grow at 15% annually, notwithstanding this year’s MERS outbreak. Last September, Caesars proposed a $1 billion IR adjacent to Manila’s airport, including a private air terminal. Gaming regulator Pagcor, which has licensed four IRs for its Entertainment City complex, the last due to open in 2019, wants to let the market absorb those projects before adding new capacity. Mr Tight says Caesars still views the Philippines as “an attractive gaming destination.” Same with Japan, where Caesars says it’s ready to invest $5 billion whenever Japan is. As shown in Korea, Mr Tight plans to persist on all fronts. Group, founded by Hong Kong entertainment-industry impresario Albert Yeung, whose close friend and movie star Jackie Chan not only attended the Grand Emperor’s opening, but is also a minority shareholder in the venture. From the humble beginnings of a single watch shop, Mr Yeung has built a diversified empire with holdings in entertainment, property and finance and has accumulated a net worth of US$1.1 billion, according to Forbes magazine. Prior to building his own casino hotel in Macau, the 72-year-old entrepreneur had held interests in two VIP rooms at Casino Lisboa, the erstwhile flagship property of Macau gaming tycoon and Mr Yeung’s friend Stanley Ho. Mr Ho has said of Mr Yeung, “No difficulties can baffle him, Gaming revenue at the 307-room Grand Emperor Hotel on the Macau peninsula fell 15.6% in the financial year ending 31st March to HK$1.73 billion (US$223 million), against the backdrop of what the operating company—Hong Kong-listed Emperor Entertainment Hotel—called “a challenging market environment overshadowed by economic and regulatory concerns.” The Grand Emperor opened in 2006 in downtown Macau and features actors at the front doors arrayed in the red tunics and bearskin hats of Britain’s famed Coldstream Guards and real gold bars recessed in the lobby floor—seemingly kitschy features that nevertheless delight mainland Chinese visitors in search of snapshots. Gaming accounted for 85% of Emperor Entertainment Hotel’s total revenue in the last financial year, generated across 67 main- floor gaming tables, 10 VIP tables and 200 electronic gaming machines. Emperor Entertainment Hotel said its profit for the 12 months ended 31st March fell 16% to HK$504 million from HK$600 million a year earlier. Emperor Entertainment Hotel is a subsidiary of Emperor Albert Yeung Chairman Emperor Group