Junket firms milk their 'big whale' contacts

When junket operator Suncity opened its first high roller baccarat table at Steve Wynn’s Macau casino in 2007 to lure China’s wealthiest punters, the firm had fewer than 30 employees and no computers or equipment other than pen and paper.

Five years later, Suncity has emerged as the dominant junket in the Chinese territory. It is planning to open its own resort, independent of casino stalwarts such as Las Vegas Sands, and is expanding into everything from mining to films.

Macau’s booming revenues that totalled US$38 billion last year - six times that of the Las Vegas strip - are indebted to its unique VIP junket system, where licensed middlemen act on behalf of the casinos to attract “big whale” spenders by arranging their travel and accommodation and handle their gambling credit.

Now the transformation of the former Portuguese colony from a hotbed of crime into a playground for China’s nouveau riche has spawned a new breed of junkets, eager to shed the industry’s shady image and establish themselves as multinational conglomerates.

“Suncity is a young and very energetic corporate. There is a need to be diversified,” said YM Choong, a senior executive at the company, in an interview with Reuters.

“For future investments we would look to expand in different areas, particularly property, finance and media. We would look to list other parts of the business.”