83
Sands’ dollars stay here: Adelson
L
as Vegas Sands chairman Sheldon Adelson says his company is not taking profi ts generated by subsidiary Sands China out of in Macau. “We have independent directors here in Hong Kong and, believe
me, they are independent. And they speak their mind and I’m very glad they do,” Mr Adelson said at last month’s CLSA investors’ conference in Hong Kong. “I want Sands China to be as successful as Las Vegas Sands is. No
bank or any investor has ever complained that I’ve cannibalised, that I’ve shifted profi ts from one to the other.” Mr Adelson, who is the chairman of both Las Vegas Sands and
Sands China, has announced that Las Vegas Sands is considering changing its name to refl ect the fact that it is no longer confi ned to Las Vegas. Las Vegas Sands spokesman Ron Reese said a name change might
be voted on at the next board meeting in November. In June, American gaming company MGM Mirage changed its name to MGM Resorts International to refl ect its global character.
turning its Four Seasons apartment hotel into a housing co-operative. Although quite common in the United States, co-ops are new to
Flying the co-op T
Macau. In a housing co-op arrangement, a corporation, usually owns a building and each shareholder has the right to occupy one housing unit. The shareholders do not own the real estate, only a share of the legal entity that does. Sands China has asked the government for permission to cede its
title of the Four Seasons apartment hotel to a subsidiary. Mr Carion told reporters that Sands China was still waiting for permission. If permission is given, Sands China needs no further government approval to set up a co-op. Melco Crown may be the next gaming company to do something
similar. Last month the government amended the grant of land for the company’s City of Dreams to allow for a bigger, yet-to-be developed apartment hotel tower. Melco Crown chief executive Lawrence Ho said his company had
no plans as yet to start constructing the apartment hotel. “Right now, we are happy with the 1,400 rooms we have at the City of Dreams,” he said. Asked if Melco Crown would consider a co-op-type structure, Mr Ho said the company would follow the government’s instructions.
with developers on the use of land, and for land to be offi cially granted to a de- veloper only after construction work is well under way. The development of the Venetian Macao, Grand Lisboa and City of Dreams followed this pattern. In August, Sands China’s acting chief
executive, Mike Leven, said his com- pany had already spent US$162 million (MOP1.3 billion) on preparatory work on parcels seven and eight. Mr Leven admit-
ted that Sands China had no construction schedule or defi nite plans for developing the land. Mr Leven then told Macau Business
that the government had never discussed with Sands China the possibility of tak- ing back parcels seven and eight if devel- opment was delayed. JP Morgan gaming analyst Joe Greff
said the government was unlikely to take the land from Sands China. “That said,
we do believe the government is working with SJM and the other concessionaires so that each has a presence on the Cotai Strip,” he said in a research note. Mr Greff said if the government did
take parcels seven and eight from Sands China, the effect on its parent company, Las Vegas Sands, would be minimal be- cause it would be offset by Las Vegas Sands’ new operations in Singapore and a stronger performance in Las Vegas.
OCTOBER 2010
he director of the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau, Jaime Carion, said last month that there was no law against Sands China
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