Inside Asian Gaming

JULY 2018 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 11 Daisy Ho appointed new Chairman of SJM Holdings Macau concessionaire SJM Holdings has confirmed Daisy Ho as the new Chairman of the company following the retirement of her father and Macau gaming kingpin Stanley Ho. Dr Ho – whose company STDM, the parent company of SJM, held a 40-year monopoly on casino gaming in Macau before liberalization – officially stepped down from his role at SJM at the company’s annual general meeting. His position has now been filled by his daughter. Daisy Ho, 53, was already an Executive Director of the company and sits on the boards of a number of other prominent companies including Shun Tak Holdings, where she is Deputy Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer. Her new role as Chairman of SJM Holdings comes with no fixed term and sees her entitled to an annual base fee of HK$1 million per year and annual allowances of HK$1.3 million from the group, the company announced. Also promoted to the roles of Co-Chairmen were directors Timothy Fok and Angela Leong, Dr Ho’s wife. Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Ambrose So has been appointed Vice-Chairman in addition to his existing positions. Dr Ho was granted the honorary title of Chairman Emeritus after stepping down. vendors, named as Lee Bug Leng, Lee Bug Huy and Lee Bug Tong, had “threatened to terminate the lease on contrived and spurious grounds” despite their company, Lee Hoe Property Co. Ltd, having previously signed a 50-year lease with Donaco for Star Vegas to occupy the land parcel. “Accordingly, Donaco has now obtained an injunction in its favor from the Banteay Meanchey Court of First Instance to prevent the threatened termination,” Donaco said. “This complements the previous injunction granted in Donaco’s favor to prevent the vendors from engaging in illegal competition in the Poipet area, in breach of the sale agreements for the Star Vegas. The vendors have indicated that they intend to appeal against that previous injunction, but the appeal process has not commenced yet.” Donaco also revealed that it has increased the size of a damages claim against the vendors via arbitration proceedings in Singapore from US$120 million to US$190 million upon expert legal and financial advice. Those proceedings relate to the vendors continuing to run gaming operations in defiance of non-compete provisions at Star Paradise, which is located adjacent to Star Vegas in Poipet.