The Macau Metro Monitor, April 21rst, 2010

WYNN PLANS TO BUILD CASINO IN MACAU'S COTAI AREA; MULLS MACAU HEADQUARTERS WSJ.com, CNBC

Steve Wynn, speaking in an interview ahead of the opening of his new hotel and casino, Encore at Wynn Macau, said construction on the Cotai project would start next year, in time to open as early as the end of 2013, and would feature a single hotel and likely include no more than 450 gambling tables. "In the past few years, Cotai players have built very ambitious projects, but they had little experience in gaming," Wynn said. "We have 42 years...and we will land on Cotai and the competition with all of that experience."

Wynn's Encore Macau is the only opening by a major casino operator this year in the Chinese territory, but it is relatively modest; the $600 million Encore Macau has 61 gambling tables, and Wynn described the project Tuesday as a "boutique hotel" meant to cater to Macau's highest-end visitors. In addition, Wynn declared his stance on a potential threat from Singaporean casinos, "Singapore as a competitive jurisdiction is irrelevant."

Wynn dismissed worries that Macau government officials could limit the number of gambling tables, calling recent remarks by top officials part of "a conversation, not a reality." "Is the table cap a fait accompli? The answer is no," Wynn said. He added that he is in regular dialogue with top Macau officials and said officials wouldn't approve projects by holders of casino licenses unless they were comfortable with the idea of more gambling tables.

Wynn called the New Jersey recommendation against Ms. Ho "ridiculous," saying regulators were overreaching to make a political statement."What has she done wrong? The fact that Stanley is her father?" Mr. Wynn said. "Pansy's as suitable as you are, except for her name. So what if a father gives money to his daughter?"

Wynn Resorts is also considering moving its global headquarters from Las Vegas to Macau, said Wynn. “It is not improbable or unrealistic considering so much of our revenue is from China that it makes sense that I spend most of my time here,” said Wynn. “I'm seriously considering that and I am weighing the implications of how I engineer that.” “What matters is not how many places get built but how good are they. The more fanciful, the more appropriate they are, they grow the market… I don't think bigger is better. I think better is better.”

MGM'S NATHAN TO RUN FIRST 'VEGAS STYLE' VIET CASINO BusinessWeek

Asian Coast Development Ltd. hired Lloyd Nathan, formerly president of MGM Mirage Global Gaming Development, to run the first Las Vegas-style casino in Vietnam.  Asian Coast, a Vancouver-based development group backed by Philip Falcone’s Harbinger Capital Partners LLC of New York, has a 50-year license to build a $4.2 billion casino and resort 130 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City. MGM Mirage will manage the first property, which will be called the MGM Grand Ho Tram, Asian coast said. The first phase of the project is scheduled to open in January 2013.

Because gambling is illegal for Vietnamese, the casino will be off-limits to most of the communist nation’s 86 million people apart from overseas Vietnamese holding foreign passports. "VIP customers will account for more than two thirds of gaming revenue in the Ho Tram strip," Nathan said.

The first phase of the beach-side Vietnamese resort will include 550 rooms, 90 gaming tables and 500 slot machines, Gavin Davidson, a spokesman for Asian Coast, said in a telephone interview from Ho Chi Minh City. The development is licensed for up to 180 tables and 1,000 slot machines, he said.


GALAXY'S MACAU MEGA-RESORT SEES FUNDING OVERSUBSCRIBED macaubusiness.com

The company released details of the oversubscribed ‘club loan’ syndicate deal announced on April 12 which has now been upsized to HK$9bn, meaning that the HK$14.1bn Galaxy Macau development is now fully funded.