Emperor Entertainment Hotel has identified a property in Vladivostok with the potential to become one of Russia's top hotel-casinos.
Managing director Vanessa Fan Man-seung said the property, currently operating as a hotel, would be offered for public auction next month, 'and we will definitely submit a bid'.
The company is looking to expand beyond the highly competitive Macau market. 'It is our plan to convert the premises into a top tier hotel-casino, bringing in international standard gaming facilities,' said Ms Fan.
Located on the border between Russia and northeast China, she said the project would cater to the growing number of affluent mainlanders in the area. She estimated the project's renovation costs at between $50 million and $100 million.
Most of Vladivostok's hotel-casinos are small-scale operations. 'We see this as a good chance to tap into the emerging casino industry,' Ms Fan said, adding that with foreigners being eligible for gaming licences in Russia, the city was attracting overseas investors.
Without disclosing profit projections, she said Emperor normally looked at projects with investment returns of at least 20 per cent. The company has a 45 per cent stake in the Emperor Casino Hotel in Macau, due to open in September, and earlier this year, acquired the Golden Princess, a 38-year-old casino ship that is expected to contribute an annual profit of at least $30 million.
'It is our cash generator. The vessel's business for the past three months has been better than the average performance for the same period last year,' she said.