SANDS MULLS HONG KONG IPO scmp.com
Sheldon Adleson, the chairman and CEO of Las Vegas Sands, stated that LVS wants to raise US$3 billion to US$4 billion and is considering an IPO of its Macau assets in Hong Kong along with several other options. Mr. Adelson also believes that "we are at the trough of the recession", and things will improve from here.
Sands may choose to sell stakes to private equity firms or to get construction companies involved in its projects to assemble their own financing. Adelson denied that Sands would consider a bond issue in the United States. In May it was reported that LVS had hired Goldman Sachs to look at a potential Honk Kong listing for its Macau assets and the firm planned to cut approximately 4,000 jobs in Macau. Analysts estimate that LVS needs US$1.5 billion to US$2 billion to finish its developments in Macau.
MACAU RANKS TOP 20 IN TOURISM LIST macaudailytimesnews.com
Tourists spent US$13.6 billion in Macau during 2008, according to World Tourism Organization statistics. The SAR is in 17th place in the world list, with 10.6 million visitors coming to Macau in 2008.
The WTO showed that from January to April, international tourism decreased 8% to 247 million and revised the predictions for the remainder of the year to include reductions of between 4% and 6%.
