Gaming | Pansy Ho is coming home

The co-chairperson and executive director of gaming operator MGM China Holdings Ltd [MGM], Pansy Ho, is getting ready to return “home” and take the helm of another gaming operator, SJM Holdings Ltd.
The pending scenario was confirmed to the Times by the managing partner of IGamiX Management & Consulting, Ben Lee.
Questioned by the Times as to whether yet another sale of shares by Ho could represent an intention of reducing her position as a stakeholder at MGM even further before leaving the post to run SJM, Lee said, “Yes, that has always been our belief that Pansy [Ho] will leave MGM to go take over the helm at SJM once the concessions have been settled. MGM made it worth her while to help them get [her] over the line.”
Lee believes that Ho’s move to SJM should happen soon after the new concessions tender is finished, aiming to secure a more comfortable position for MGM since SJM’s concession is not considered to be at risk in any way.
When asked who could be in an advantageous position to assume the helm of MGM in this scenario, Lee said, “The [president and] chief operating officer, Hubert Wang, could be a contender,” adding that it would be “politically unwise” for the company to appoint an American national.
Ho sold another 1.45 million shares of MGM Resorts International yesterday, worth a total of USD56.7 million (MOP460.3 million), further reducing her participation in the company after selling of another USD35.6 million (MOP 284.5 million) worth of shares from the same company on February 24.
Before the initial transaction, Ho had just over 8.2 million shares. Her stake is now reduced to about 6.7 million shares, a filing with Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (HKEX), where the parent company MGM China is listed, notes.
According to a different filling lodged with the HKEX two days later, which reports the annual results of the company in 2020, Ho still currently holds as much as a 22.49% share of MGM China.
Last year, MGM China saw revenue fall by 78% to approximately HKD5.1billion