Casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun said yesterday that his company is interested in buying up magnate Henry Fok Ying-tung's personal stake in Mr Ho's gambling company in Macau.
Speaking at a reception to mark the opening of Macau's Beijing office at the Great Hall of the People, Mr Ho, a deputy to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said he would discuss the matter with Mr Fok soon at Mr Fok's Grand Beijing Hotel and report to the media afterwards.
Although Mr Fok, a vice-chairman of the CPPCC, and Mr Ho attended a dinner hosted by CPPCC Chairman Li Ruihuan at the Great Hall of the People on Tuesday, Mr Ho said they had not yet had the opportunity to talk about the potential deal. Mr Ho said Mr Fok hoped to resolve the issue by the end of the month.
The monopoly of Mr Ho's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau is set to expire by then and the company will have to share Macau's lucrative gambling business with two other licence winners, Wynn Resorts and Galaxy Casino.
Ta Kung Po newspaper had earlier reported that Mr Fok would sell his 27 per cent stake in STDM as he was dissatisfied with his share of the profits.
Mr Fok has said he is not interested in the casino business and has never taken a management role. He became an STDM director after lending $400,000 to Mr Ho in 1961 to make up the $1 million minimum required to bid for the gambling licence.