Wire ASIA & OCEANIA
Crown to Open Gaming Floor in Early 2022
Australian operator Crown Resorts has set its sights on launching its VIP casino at Crown Sydney early on in 2022.
Crown said it had seen business improve in recent weeks, especially over the weekends, as Australia relaxed COVID-19 restrictions.
AUSTRALIA LAND-BASED
SOUTH KOREA – South Korean casino group Grand Korea Leisure is relocating its Seven Luck Casino Gangbuk Hilton casino to Seoul Dragon City, a hotel that opened in 2017 which is located near major business districts.
Seoul Dragon City was the only bidder in the tender to house the casino. It was seen as being an ideal home due to its high ceiling height on the lower floors and the fact it already offers high-end hotel rooms.
Seoul Dragon City offers 1,700 hotel rooms across four hotels with 11 bars and restaurants, two multi- function grand ballrooms and a four-level Sky Bridge with a miniature indoor pool, performance stage, private beach club and a skywalk.
The casino has had to move from its current home at Millenium Seoul Hotel after the hotel was bought by Aegis Asset Management in May, 2021.
AUSTRALIA – OpenBet is to continue powering Flutter Entertainment’s Australian sports betting brand Sportsbet after securing a new four-year deal. Through to the end of 2025, Sportsbet will continue to deploy OpenBet’s technology.
Jordan Levin, CEO of OpenBet, said: “We’re thrilled to have finalised this important new contract with our long-term partner Sportsbet. We take great pride in delivering our industry-leading platform technology to Australia’s leading sports betting brand and providing bettors with a safe, responsible and immersive experience.
“This renewed partnership with Flutter Entertainment once again demonstrates how OpenBet is at the heart of driving sports betting entertainment to the world’s biggest brands.”
MACAU – Wynn Macau has confirmed it will appoint Craig Billings as the company’s new chief executive officer when current CEO, Matt Maddox, resigns early in the New Year. Mr. Maddox
has resigned from the comany after two decades with Wynn Resorts, most recently as the operator’’s Chief Executive Officer where he steered the company through a particularily difficult period of time in its history.
Mr. Maddox will also resign from his positions as director and officer of the company’s subsidiaries, including as the chairman of the board of directors of Wynn Resorts. Subject to the completion of certain Macau regulatory procedures, Mr. Billings will become the chairman of the board of directors of WRM.
P24 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
Australian operator Crown Resorts has set its sights on launching its VIP casino at Crown Sydney early on in 2022.
During an investor presentation, Crown said it was ‘targeting a gaming floor opening early in the new year with a staged opening based on current staffing levels with further recruitment for gaming related roles to be undertaken ahead of a full commencement of gaming.’
Crown added that it had made ‘good progress’ in bringing in change as detailed in its remediation plan, which was recommended as part of February’s Bergin Report into Crown’s suitability to keep its gaming license.
New CEO Steve McCann said: “I firmly believe the business has turned the corner and it’s been significantly de-risked. Te reform programme was well and truly under way before I joined Crown and we’ve invested a lot of time and effort since then to continue on that path.”
He added: “Te VIP gaming facilities will be located across four levels of the building and will offer table gaming, semi-automated table
Fitch places RWN on Las Vegas Sands and SJM Holdings
Macau
Ratings agency, Fitch, has put a rating of Rating Watch Negative (RWN) on Macau casino operators Las Vegas Sands and SJM Holdings because of the uncertainty surrounding the timings of licence re-renewals.
Fitch said: “Te RWN reflects the material near-term regulatory uncertainty related to gaming concessions in Macau, whose 20-year term is set to expire on 26 June 2022. Near-term credit risk has increased with limited visibility into the re-bidding procedure, how the future regulatory and operating environment will impact cash flows and leverage, and the likelihood of incumbent operators’ ability to secure new gaming concessions.
gaming and fully automated table gaming. In the first year of operation, it is anticipated that Crown Sydney will operate in excess of 160 traditional table games and 70 electronic table game terminals. Under the terms of the licence, there is no limit on the number of table games, however the total floor space occupied by table gaming is restricted to 20,000 sq. m. or 20 per cent of the gross floor area, providing scope for future gaming expansion within the terms of the licence. We anticipate having a tiered gaming offering with the entry-level, Crystal room located on level two. Te more exclusive Mahogany room will be located on level three. Across these two gaming rooms there will be almost 130 table games and the 70 electronic gaming terminals. Tese rooms will also feature six gaming salons. Within the tower and across two levels, are the Sky gaming areas which comprise 30 tables across 12 private gaming salons.”
Crown currently employs 420 members of staff in gaming positions at Crown Sydney with all non-gaming facilities now open with the final restaurant, Oncore by Clare Smyth, launching on November 18 2021.
“Fitch views the possibility of incumbent concession holders failing to secure new concessions as low, although the risk cannot be ignored,” it added. “Te operators have invested billions, are large local employers and critical government tax payers, and have supported the local and mainland government’s broader goals, such as the Greater Bay Area Initiative.
“Te new concessions could also come with weaker operating economics, onerous capital commitments and reduced ability to upstream cash to parents, but this is difficult to predict until regulators provide greater clarity.
“In the longer term, Fitch believes that the Macau gaming industry remains attractive, supported by the expanding middle class in China and the development of infrastructure in and around Macau,” it added.
Australia
Macau casino operators SJM Holdings and Galaxy Entertainment Group have both confirmed they will honour their existing agreements with junket operators at least until the end of their current deals. However, Morgan Stanley has said that more casino groups could terminate their arrangements with junkets. Tak Chun, the second-biggest junket operator in Macau, confirmed that some casinos have axed partnerships following the arrest of Alvin Chau Cheok Wa on money laundering charges. His company accounted for 19 per cent of Macau’s junket business. Suncity Group Holdings has shut all of its VIP rooms in Macau until further notice. It accounted for 45 per cent of the junket market in Macau. Angela Leong On Kei, SJM Holdings co- chairman and executive director, said: “We have not made any agreements with the junkets’ VIP rooms regarding ending collaboration.”
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