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Macau offers gambling licence lifeline to US casino operators
Primrose Riordan and Chan Ho-him
14 Jan 2022
Macau has quashed concerns it will cut the number of licences issued to big casino companies, offering some relief to battered US operators in the territory including Wynn, Sands and MGM.
As they revealed details of a new gambling law, Macau officials today said the Chinese territory would offer six licences for a maximum period of 13 years each. They will go to public tender when the city’s 20-year casino licences expire in June next year.
There are already six major companies in the market, and many in the industry do not see this changing soon.
“The biggest fear was that the Americans were going to be kicked out, but they are not,” said Alidad Tash, a Macau-based managing director of gaming consultancy 2NT8 Ltd.
However, officials said that the Chinese territory would require casino executive directors who are Macau permanent residents to hold at least 15 per cent of the share capital of the licence holder, up from 10 per cent. They did not offer details of how this would affect a casino’s current share arrangements.
“The concrete details will have to wait until an official government announcement soon,” said Cheong Weng Chon, Macau secretary for administration and justice.
The law now needs to be sent to the city’s legislature for approval, but this is unlikely to lead to substantive changes due to the relative lack of political opposition.
The Chinese government introduced the law following concerns about capital leakages from wealthy mainland residents through the territory.