Singapore Gives LVS 1st Ever Casino Permit

...MGM Mirage, Harrah's Entertainment Inc, Genting International and Star Cruises Ltd and Keppel Land.

The integrated resort, which is what casinos are called in Singapore, will cost an estimated US $3.6 billion to develop. The property will include a 2,500 room hotel, 1.2 million square feet of flexible meetings, incentive, convention and exhibition (MICE) space, one million square feet of retail space, three large entertainment venues and a casino. The casino will sit on a 50.9-acre waterfront site with a skyline view of city’s downtown. The resort is scheduled to open in 2009 and LVS will have the opportunity to run the gleaming gaming palace for a minimum of 30 years.

"Las Vegas Sands Corp. is honored to be selected by the Singapore Government to build and operate the Marina Bay Integrated Resort, said Las Vegas Sands Corp. President and Chief Operating Officer William Weidner in a statement issued by the company. "Our top priority is to partner with the Government and the people of Singapore to ensure that we deliver on Singapore's economic and social goals to enhance its status as one of the worlds’ greatest travel destinations. We are confident we have the strengths and capabilities to achieve this mandate based on our unique ability to develop successful, iconic Integrated Resorts from the ground-up.”

According to Singapore Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar, the Sands proposal brought the most upside for the island city-state.  It is expected in the first six years of operations the property will pump $2.7 billion into the local economy (0.8% GDP) and generate 30,000 new jobs.

Since this will be one of the most expensive casino resort projects in history, LVS estimates it will take between five and eight years from open to break even. Though the cost is tremendous, Weidner is bullish on the likelihood of obtaining financing. There could be a public offering of shares for this project, Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, Citibank, Barclays and HSBC have all expressed interest in helping generate financing for this project.

”Fortunately, with the highest market cap in the history of gaming it gives us a lot of flexibility in terms of how we can go about financing it. We have received over US $6 billion worth of commitments from investment banks and commercial banks,” Weidner explained.

What may have made the Sands deal most attractive to the Singaporean government was the inclusion of meetings and convention space. In Las Vegas, the company operates the Sands Expo and Convention Center which has more than 1.9 million square feet of convention space. It is attached to The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the under construction Palazzo Resort Hotel Casino (opening summer 2007).

”The proposal will significantly strengthen Singapore's position as a leading MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) destination,” said the deputy prime minister.

Weidner said he believes LVS’ involvement in the city-state casino project will help to make Singapore a leading convention and meetings destination. He believes that this property will help to more than triple meeting and convention business to almost 900,000 people annually.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino, the Sands Expo and Convention Center, the Sands Macao in the People's Republic of China Special Administrative Region of Macau. The company is also developing additional casino hotel resort properties in Macau, including the Macao Venetian Casino Resort.

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