Steve Wynn yesterday revealed that he might pursue business partnerships with James Packer in Las Vegas and Asia.

“I like James Packer and I like Lawrence Ho,” he said. “I consider them both friends and I think they are very bright men, and considering their age and the position they’re in, I think they represent the next generation of developers that may bring imagination and style to this whacky business we’re in.”

“I think that they would be perfectly capable of entering the Las Vegas market. There’s nothing like experience, but they’re gaining it rapidly. We’re talking about these two young men who are going to be full-on Asian gaming operators.”

Mr Wynn said he did not believe the US gaming inquiry into Pansy Ho – sister of Lawrence Ho – would cause problems for Mr Packer’s mooted push into Las Vegas.

“I will make a prediction for you: the Pansy Ho inquiry will result in her not being an issue with her partners.”

Mr Wynn said he might look at joint venture opportunities in Asia with Mr Packer.

“Depending on business opportunities and what skills we need to bring to the table, it may be appropriate for us to act jointly, but again, that will depend upon the situations that we haven’t discussed yet.” Mr Wynn, who developed and sold the famous Bellagio Casino Hotel (to MGM), helped revive the Las Vegas strip.

Wynn Resorts now includes the flagship casino Wynn Las Vegas and it holds one of six casino licences in Macau. He sold a sub-commission licence to Melco PBL in 2006 for $US900 million, allowing Mr Packer and Mr Ho to run their own casinos.

Mr Wynn said his immediate focus was on China, Macau and Las Vegas.

As for Richard Branson’s proposed push into Macau, Mr Wynn said: “There are no more licences in Macau. Anybody that wants to come in here now would have to be in a joint-venture with one of us. I don’t know who Richard has been talking to. It wasn’t me, so far.”

Source | The Australian

Originally posted 2007-02-09 11:56:08.

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