Genting team wins Sentosa casino bid
A partnership between Genting International and Hong Kong-listed Star Cruises, both units of Malaysia's gaming-to-palm oil conglomerate Genting Group, won the right to build a S$5.2 billion (HK$26.1 billion) mega casino resort on Singapore's Sentosa Island, beating bids by two other consortiums for the city state's second casino licence.
Genting, seen as the favourite, beat a group led by Las Vegas developer Eighth Wonder that included Hong Kong-listed Melco International Development, as well as a joint venture between Bahamas resort operator Kerzner International and Singapore's CapitaLand.
The winning project - Resorts World at Sentosa - will cover 34 hectares and feature four themed attractions, comprising a Universal Studios amusement park, a marine world with the world's largest oceanarium, a water park and an interactive museum of maritime history.
The resort's six hotels and 1,830 rooms will include a Hard Rock hotel and a Maxim's Residences when it opens in 2010. The budget includes a US$393 million government land premium.
'We have the means and ability to shift the paradigm of tourism here,' Genting chairman and chief executive Lim Kok Thay said yesterday after the announcement.
Genting will have a controlling 75 per cent stake in the Sentosa project, with Star Cruises taking the remainder and contributing about HK$6.6 billion.
Hoping to double tourist arrivals to 17 million by 2015, Singapore ended its 40-year ban on casinos last year by inviting international investors to bid for two 30-year gaming licences.
The first, for a convention-focused casino resort at the central Marina Bay site, was awarded in May to a US$3.6 billion proposal by Las Vegas Sands Corp, which also operates in Macau. The Singapore project is scheduled to open in 2009.
It is expected that by 2015 the Genting resort will contribute US$1.8 billion to Singapore's annual gross domestic product and will have created about 30,000 jobs.
Macau casino developer Melco, together with joint-venture partner Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd (PBL) of Australia, was an 11th-hour entrant to the Sentosa bidding.
Melco PBL Entertainment had a 24.5 per cent interest in the Eighth Wonder consortium, and would have operated the casinos inside a US$3.5 billion theme park called Harry's Island that was to feature a man-made volcano and water rides.
While fast emerging as a new gaming hub in Asia, Singapore is unlikely to approach Macau's US$5 billion-plus in annual gaming revenue and is competing for a different market. Mainland Chinese accounted for 55 per cent of Macau's 17.9 million visitors in the first 10 months of the year, compared with just 11 per cent of the eight million arrivals to Singapore.
WHEEL OF FORTUNE
December 2004: Singapore government says it will consider building casinos and invites expressions of interest April 2005: Plans for two 'integrated resorts' end a 40-year ban on casinos
March 2006: Four companies out of 12 shortlisted candidates submit formal bids to develop the first resort at Marina Bay in the city centre
May 2006: Las Vegas Sands chosen to develop the Marina Bay casino site with a projected budget of up to US$3.6 billion
October 2006: Three bids submitted for Singapore's second casino on Sentosa Island
December 2006: A venture between Genting International and Star Cruises wins the right to develop casino resort on Sentosa
