Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING DECEMBER 2017 46 ASIAN GAMING POWER 50 2 0 1 7 An hour south, The Star Gold Coast is already halfway through an AU$850 million transformation that has seen 596 existing hotel rooms refurbished and a luxury suite hotel incorporating VIP gaming nearing completion. The company was also granted approval earlier this year to build another 53-storey tower nearby boasting 423 residential apartments and 300 hotel rooms. Flagship property The Star Sydney isn’t escaping untouched either, with another AU$1 billion being pumped in. Crucially, the investment will include a new AU$500 million, six-star, 220 room Ritz-Carlton – just the second five-star-plus hotel built in Sydney since the 2000 Olympics (the first being The Darling, also at The Star). As for Bekier, it’s worth noting that Star Entertainment Group recently vested a total of 461,198 performance rights granted to executives in 2014 due to the company achieving all its performance hurdles as part of an ongoing five-year plan. The CEO was the beneficiary of 196,850 of those performance rights. David Chow CO-CHAIRMAN AND CEO Macau Legend Development POWER 1,148 LAST 30 SCORE YEAR CLAIMS TO FAME Valuable asset in Macau Fisherman’s Wharf as its redevelopment moves forward Opened boutique Macau hotel and casino Legend Palace in 2017 Both he and wife Melinda Chan are former Macau lawmakers 21 David Chow – a former Macau legislator and member of the committee that elects the Chief Executive – has been a busy man. The Chairman and CEO of Macau Legend Development achieved a major milestone in February with the opening of Legend Palace, the second hotel-casino to launch as part of the mass redevelopment of Macau Fisherman’s Wharf and by far its most luxurious with 229 hotel rooms and more than 60 gaming tables. One of three hotels at Fisherman’s Wharf, Harbourview, opened 12 months earlier with 444 rooms and suites. Macau Legend Development has also been making its presence felt abroad –most notably via a €250million integrated resort complex on Cape Verde’s main island of Santiago. The company broke ground on the multi-use facility in February 2016 which is expected to be completed by early 2019, but Mr Chow hasn’t stopped there. It has been reported by local media in recent months that the Macau businessman plans to expand his Cape Verde interests by buying up agricultural properties on Santiago with the goal of both exporting food and supplying it directly to his 14-story island resort. He is also getting heavily involved in Cape Verde’s economy, signing a memorandum of understanding with the government in May to open the Banco Sino-Atlântico bank. The plan is to attract Chinese capital, open the door for international payments and in turn aid local businesses. Cape Verde aside, Macau Legend Development last year purchased Laos casino Savan Vegas – since rebranded Savan Legend – for US$42 million which it hopes will provide a further opportunity to develop an integrated resort within the same province. Savan Legend contributed revenue of HK$119.6 million in its first six months of operation under Macau Legend’s control through 30 June, while Legend Palace brought in HK$175.3 million in a little over four months. In total, Macau Legend’s revenue grew 28.5% for the six months to 30 June 2017 to HK$855.9 million although the group reported a combined loss on the back of costs associated with Legend Palace’s opening. The property also endured the worst of Typhoon Hato in August, forcing the closure of casino facilities for a number of weeks.