Seven companies bid for new gaming concessions

Sands China executives with their bid proposal

It is either go big or go home for the seven hopeful bidders who submitted their gaming proposals to the government.

All proposals were submitted in medium to large cardboard boxes on pallets and labelled as original documents, along with copies. 

By order of submission, the companies submitting bids were Wynn Resorts (Macau) Limited, Venetian Macau Limited, Melco Resorts (Macau) Limited, SJM Resorts Limited, MGM Grand Paradise Limited, Galaxy Casino Company Limited, and GMM Limited.

The latter is a new competitor to the current six gaming operators bidding to acquire a 10-year casino concession. Only six licenses will be approved.

GMM Limited is a locally registered firm that has links with Lim Kok Thay, a Malaysian gaming mogul and chairman of Genting Group (Genting) – a casinos, resorts and palm oil conglomerate with market capitalization of some MYR40 billion.

The group also runs casinos in Malaysia, Singapore, the U.S. and the U.K. under the Resorts World brand, with recent expansion into Egypt.

According to media reports on one of the representatives (surnamed Chen) of GMM, Lim wanted to come to the city to take part in the bid submission but was unable to due to the pandemic.

Although bidders come from within the 41 foreign countries that can enter Macau, a seven-day hotel quarantine hurdle is still mandatory.  

Chen believes that Genting has a certain degree of confidence in this bid for a Macau gaming concession, mentioning that the company assisted in the construction of ski resorts for the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics held earlier this year. 

In the city’s biggest overhaul of the gaming law, the government now requires bidders to submit proposals on future work that will be undertaken in the area of corporate social responsibility for them to be awarded a license. It can be understood that the government is relying on bidders for suggestions on corporate social responsibility.

Meanwhile, all six other gaming operators submitted their proposals by mid-afternoon yesterday, along with a deposit of at least MOP10 million at the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ).

Wynn Macau was the first to submit on Tuesday, a day earlier than the deadline specified in Executive Order 136/2022.

If granted a license, casino operators must maintain MOP5 billion in cash during the 10-year license period.

Las Vegas Sands, the parent company of Sands China, pledged that the company was dedicated to helping Macau meet its tourism and economic diversification goals. 

“Our goals have always been aligned with the government when it comes to developing the scale of amenities Macau needed to become a must-see international tourism destination. […] Macau is still in the early stages of establishing itself as an international tourism destination and we believe we can continue to meaningfully contribute to that effort by expanding those important drivers of tourism,” said Las Vegas Sands’ and Sands China’s chairman and CEO Robert G. Goldstein in a statement. 

Francis Lui, Galaxy’s deputy chairman who was present at the submission, told the press that the group remains confident the government will consider their bid, recalling the group’s satisfactory performance over the past 20 years.

For Wynn, the gaming operator said that they have been prepared for these proposals for over a year. 

Melco’s proposals, meanwhile, reinforce the company’s commitment to Macau and the further diversification of its economy, according to chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho.

The committee for the gaming concessions public tender will open the submitted bids on Friday.