In conjunction with the signing of the six new gaming contracts yesterday, the government has published the content of the contracts, including the operating venues of the concessionaires’ casinos, investment commitments and premium details.
Investment commitments
The government announced yesterday the six concessionaires have committed a total investment of MOP$118.8 billion (US$14.9 billion) over the 10-year period of the concession, of which a total of MOP$108.7 billion (US$13.6 billion) will be invested in developing foreign visitor markets and non-gaming projects, with MOP$10.1 billion (US$1.26 billion) in gaming projects.
The total investments are as follows:
MOP$ billion | |
MGM | 16.7 |
GEG | 28.4 |
Sands | 30.2 |
Melco | 11.8 |
Wynn | 17.7 |
SJM | 14.0 |
TOTAL | 118.8 |
The concessionaires are required to give priority consideration to employing Macau residents when hiring staff, and to submit their investment plans for each calendar year to the government by 30 September of the prior year.
Concessionaires are required to notify the government if they extend loans exceeding MOP$60 million to third parties, and to obtain approval from the Secretary of Economy and Finance if the amount exceeds MOP$100 million. Any loans by concessionaires to directors, shareholders or key employees must be authorized by the Secretary for Economy and Finance.
Casino locations
The locations of the concessionaires’ non-satellite casinos will be:
- MGM: MGM Macau, MGM Cotai
- Galaxy: StarWorld, Galaxy Macau
- Sands: Sands Macao, Venetian Macao, The Plaza Macao, The Londoner Macao and Parisian Macao
- Melco: Altira, City of Dreams, Studio City, Mocha locations
- Wynn: Wynn Macau, Wynn Palace
- SJM: Lisboa, Grand Lisboa, Grand Lisboa Palace, Oceanus
There will be 11 satellite casinos, with a three-year grace period after which they can transition to management company arrangements at their discretion:
- GEG: Waldo
- Melco: Grand Dragon
- SJM: Casa Real, Emperor, Fortuna, Grandview, KamPek, Landmark, Le Royal Arc, Legend Palace, Ponte 16
Premium
The six concessionaires are required to submit an annual premium to the government, which will be divided into two components: fixed and variable.
The annual fixed premium is MOP$30 million.
The annual variable premium is MOP$300,000 for VIP gaming tables (defined as “tables dedicated to the use of specific gamblers”), MOP$150,000 per non-VIP table and MOP$1,000 per slot machine. The minimum annual variable premium is 500 gaming tables and 1,000 slot machines per year, which would be a minimum annual variable premium of MOP$76 million if a concessionaire chose to have no VIP tables.
The premium amounts for the new contracts are the exact same amounts in the contracts relating to the prior concession period, from 2002 to 2022.
IAG will be poring over the concession contracts in the coming days and publish further stories explaining the contracts next week.