Sands gaming group to stake US$2.5 billion more on Macau
Gaming group plans further multibillion-dollar outlay to expand casino empire, following the opening of a new phase in Cotai Central project
Gaming mogul Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands plans to stake US$2.5 billion in new investment to expand its growing gambling empire in Macau.
The new project, to be called The Parisian, will be located on Cotai and developed by Sands China - the Macau unit of Las Vegas Sands.
"We will finance the project with about a billion dollars of equity and will raise the rest of the funding from international banks," group president and chief operating officer Michael Leven said. No further details were available.
Leven revealed the plans during the launch on Wednesday of the second phase of the group's US$4.4 billion Sands Cotai Central project. The first phase, which incorporates a Conrad hotel and Holiday Inn hotel, opened in April.
The second phase featured the opening of the 1,829-room Sheraton Macao Hotel.
Sands China operates four projects in Macau, including the popular integrated resort, The Venetian.
Sands China chief executive Edward Tracy said the Macau government approved 400 new gaming tables for the Cotai Central project several years ago. But the company has to wait until January - when a cap on the number of gaming tables in Macau is lifted - to add 200 of them. In the interim 165 tables have been moved from Sands Macau and The Venetian to Cotai Central.