Sands China Ltd says it has renewed arrangements with its controlling shareholder, Las Vegas Sands (LVS), granting it permission to continue using certain LVS trademarks for a period of three years, commencing from 1 January 2023.
The new International Trademark License Agreement replaces the current Second Trademark Sub-License Agreement, which is due to expire on 31 December 2022, and provides various Sands China subsidiaries with access to LVS brand names.
Specifically, it grants to members of the Sands China group “a license to use certain trademarks and service marks (a) in mainland China, Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan for the design, development, construction, ownership, management and/or operation of casinos or gaming areas (including those casinos or gaming areas which form part of a hotel or an integrated resort) and other like facilities in which customers are able to gamble by playing games of fortune or chance or other similar games [in these regions] … and (b) in the rest of the world, for the marketing, advertising and promotion of our business.“
The maximum amount payable by Sands China to Las Vegas Sands over the course of the new three-year agreement is US$377 million under mutually agreed annual caps, with the final amount to be calculated at 1.5% of gaming and non-gaming revenues.
Sands China paid LVS a peak total of US$109.5 million in 2019 for use of its trademarks, however that amount fell to US$21.7 million in 2020, US$42.0 million in 2021 and US$16.4 million for the first nine months of 2022.
Sands China said the use of LVS trademarks “is important to the success of the business of the Group since these licensed trademarks and service marks form an integral part of the Group’s corporate identity.”
