News Detail

SORTE ESTRELA EYES A MACAU CASINO

  • 2014-12-12

2014/12/10

From:Macau Business Daily

 

Junket operators are having a tough time. But Sorte Estrela is not fazed. Having opened its first VIP room in Macau yesterday, it’s set its sights on the main prize. From 10 VIP tables in Altira.

The grand opening of Sorte Estrela’s VIP room in Altira Macau took place yesterday. The gaming promoter expects that this will be the first step on a path that will end with Sorte Estrela’s own casino hotel.
“I hope this is the first of three casino VIP rooms the company is going to open within two years. And then after five years maybe the company will go through an IPO [Initial Public Offering] to become listed. The sale of equities will allow us to construct a casino hotel”, Executive Director of Sorte Estrela Entertainment Limited Fabians Fong told Business Daily yesterday.
The opening of the VIP room in Altira Macau comes at a time when the VIP segment is shrinking in Macau, as the Central Government in Beijing tightens its grip on graft. On the other hand, access to credit has become increasingly difficult and smaller gaming promoters are facing tough times.
“The VIP market is shrinking but that’s not affecting our operations. Most gamblers in Macau come from Mainland China and we have clients from the Mainland as well. However, that is not our reality. Our clients come mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Japan and Korea”, he said.
Sorte Estrela’s VIP room on the second floor of Altira Macau has 10 gaming tables that are borrowed from the Tung Shing VIP Club.
“Macau is the most difficult place to open a VIP room. The main difficulty comes not from the expenses related to the rent of the space but rather the expenses required to guarantee gaming tables”, the Executive Director of Sorte Estrela said.
In relation to a second VIP room operated by Sorte Estrela, the company is studying various scenarios. “We’re still thinking about the place. It may be in the City of Dreams or on the Macau Peninsula”, he said.
The goal of Sorte Estrela is to build its own integrated resort. With regard to this ambition, Macau is the most favoured place to build. However, the company – which has six offices in Macau, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia – does not exclude the possibility of building in another country.
“Macau is our main target but if we cannot make it here we will build it in other country”, Mr. Fong said.
An a time that the government is emphasising the need for the Special Administrative Region to diversify its economy, opening a casino may not be the easiest of the tasks. The problem begins with a licence to run it.
“The ideal thing would be to have our own gaming licence. But if that is not possible, we will run a casino under the licence of another gaming operator”, Fong said. “I believe that for an amount of roughly HK$2 billion one may have the authorisation to run a casino under the licence of another gaming operator”.

 

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