Website: No timetable yet for Macau gaming license renewal
It’s a little early for Macau’s casino operators to be worried about renewing their government granted gambling concessions.
Or is it?
The website MacauBusiness.com reported this week the Special Administrative Region’s government doesn’t have a calendar yet to start the gaming concession renewal process.
Casino concessions in Macau — including those granted to Las Vegas Corp., Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM Resorts International — begin to expire in 2020.
However, the website reported there are some worries that some of the city’s six casino operators might not have their licenses renewed. Those concerns could impede plans by casino operators to borrow money to pay for their planned projects on Macau’s Cotai Strip region.
“No specific timetable regarding the gaming concession renewal process is being set out yet,” a spokesperson for the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau told Macau Business.
“However, rest assured that the government is paying close attention to the various impacts on project financing of the gaming concessionaires,” the spokesperson said.
Originally, Macau’s government granted just three gaming concessions, to Wynn Resorts, Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho and Hong Kong-based Galaxy Entertainment.
The government then allowed the concession holders to grant subconcessions to other casino operators. Las Vegas Sands acquired its subconcession from Galaxy, Wynn sold its subconcession to MelcoPBL for $900 million and Ho gave his subconcession to his daughter, Pansy Ho, who became a joint-venture partner with MGM Resorts.
