Galaxy joins global race for Japanese casino licenses
Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts, and Macau-based Melco Resorts & Entertainment already said they expect to lay out plans for their first casino resorts in Japan
Galaxy Entertainment, the Macau gambling giant, has firmly entered the bidding for a Japan casino license, heating up what is already turning into a hotly contested battle among gaming moguls for a slice of the pie in a country where casino gambling was only legalised at the end of last year.
“We see loads of potential in the Japanese market and aim to win a casino license there in cooperation with Societe des Bains de Mer,” said Francis Lui, Galaxy’s vice chairman and the eldest son of billionaire tycoon Lui Che-woo, on the sidelines of the group’s annual general meeting on Thursday.
The comments are likely to intensify a scrap that has already seen US-based Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts, and Macau-based Melco Resorts & Entertainment say they expect to lay out plans for their first casino resorts in Japan, after the country’s parliament passed a bill legalising casinos in December.
With Chinese tourists flocking to Japan in the tens of thousands monthly, top casino operators have set their sights on the nascent market after amassing enormous fortunes from Macau, the former Portuguese colony and now the world’s largest gambling enclave.
In February, Melco chairman Lawrence Ho vowed at a forum to “spend whatever we need” to fulfil his goal of building integrated resorts in Japan.