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Shirley Lau

Tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung said yesterday he was still friends with Stanley Ho Hung-sun, despite pulling out of the casino mogul's gambling business.

Mr Fok made the comment as he placed on sale his 27.7 per cent stake in Mr Ho's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM), the day after the casino monopoly expired.

Revenue from the sale of his stake will be donated to a fund devoted to economic development and charities in Macau and the mainland, said Mr Fok, vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The announcement followed a mainland meeting between Mr Fok, STDM managing director Mr Ho and Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah regarding the change.

STDM will now share Macau's lucrative gambling business with two other casino concession winners, Wynn Resorts and Galaxy Casino, ending the company's 40-year monopoly.

Mr Fok would not be drawn on the estimated value of the shares nor the identity of the anticipated buyers, although there has been speculation they will be sold to other STDM shareholders.

Ho Ming-see, spokesman for Mr Fok, estimated the value of the stake to be $6 to $7 billion, compared to $600 million in 1986 when Mr Fok tried and failed to sell his stake in the business.

Mr Ho, who holds a 30 per cent stake in the company, has expressed an interest in buying the stake since a newspaper report in February claimed Mr Fok wanted to sell it because he was dissatisfied with his share of profits. The report quoted Mr Fok as saying he had received only about $126 million of STDM's $1.4 billion net profit in 2000.

When asked yesterday if Mr Ho was still a friend, Mr Fok said: 'Yes, we're still friends. Mr Ho is a very forward-thinking person . . . I know nothing about gambling, but am very into developing a place's infrastructure.'

He also reflected on his contribution to Macau, saying the enclave would not be what it is if he had not developed the sea route to Macau in the 1960s.

Mr Fok became a director of STDM after lending $400,000 to Mr Ho in 1961 to make up the $1 million minimum required to bid for the gambling licence.

He said Macau should seek to further develop its tourist industry with the tax income it receives from gambling.

'I think what the Chief Executive has to fret about is not where to make more money but how to spend the large amount of money now that three companies are [in the gambling business],' he said.



Tycoon still friends with Stanley Ho