News just comes through that the wagering firm Tabcorp Holdings Ltd may join Britain’s Virgin Group in building and running a US$3 billion casino in Macau, southern China.

Macau is getting yet another casino, this time the Virgin Group has jumped on the bandwagon. As Sir Richard Branson has not got a gaming license , he will have to join with one of the other six license holders. I suspect that the site would be on the Cotai Strip.

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is close to securing a 20-hectare site in Macau to build a US$3 billion casino complex which would be funded “at least partially with a mix of Virgin equity and debt financing from international banks,” the paper reported. It added Sir Richard would recoup his upfront costs within 18 months of opening.

Sir Richard could opt for a branded joint-venture arrangement with one of six groups which currently hold rights to run casinos in the former Portuguese enclave, the paper added.

The flamboyant British entrepreneur whose business empire ranges from airlines to music and mobile phones, is close to acquiring the site in the Chinese special administrative region, the Financial Times reported.

“We hope to get all the boxes ticked in the next couple of months and start developing the site soon afterwards,” Branson was quoted by the paper as saying.

The paper said Branson had held talks with Macau’s leader, Chief Executive Edmund Ho, on Wednesday to try and confirm arrangements for the planned entertainment complex featuring three hotels and a casino, which could open as soon as 2010.

Macau recently dethroned Las Vegas as the world’s biggest gambling centre, with some analysts predicting its gambling market could more than double to $14 billion in revenue by 2010.

Two of the world’s top gaming firms, the Las Vegas Sands Corp and Wynn Resorts Ltd have already built mega-casinos in Macau and other world-class competitors including MGM Mirage are due to pile in later this year.

Source | Reuters

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