Inside Asian Gaming

October 2011 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 35 W hat will the Macau government’s recent public statement that it “has yet to make a final decision” over Wynn Macau’s Cotai land rights—in an apparent contradiction of Wynn’s earlier announcement to stock markets— mean in practical terms? As ever in Macau, it’s dangerous to make assumptions. It could mean something or it could mean nothing at all. That it should be Wynn in particular that has been caught in the ‘open’ apparently without clarity or political cover on a sensitive topic like its Cotai land use rights is very surprising. Of all the foreign operators, Wynn is usually one of the most careful and deft in its approach to government negotiations. Here’saquickreminderofthesequenceof events that led to the apparent conflict over the Cotai land use issue. On 12th September, Wynn Resorts made a formal announcement to the New York and Hong Kong stock exchanges that on the previous Friday—9th September—Wynn Macau had “formally accepted the terms and conditions of a land concession contract from the government of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China in respect of approximately 51 acres of land in the Cotai area of Macau.” The filing added: “The Land Concession Contract permits Palo [Real Estate Company Ltd] and Wynn Macau to develop a resort containing a five-star hotel, gaming areas, retail, entertainment, food and beverage, spa and convention offerings on the Cotai Land.” The document listed the total land premium payable as “approximately” US$193.4 million, adding that the development company Palo was required to pay an additional US$0.77 million per year in rent during the construction phase, and a further US$1.08 million in rent per year once the resort is completed. And yet within hours of that announcement, a Macau government department— the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau—was telling the local media that Wynn’s request for a land concession “was currently being reviewed and the administration has yet to make a final decision,” adding, “The procedures concerning this request have yet to be fully completed.” Possible scenarios A worst-case scenario for Wynn Macau would be the Macau authorities insisting on formal gazetting of the relevant Cotai land prior to any concrete going into the ground. That could take many months rather than weeks. The act of gazetting—publishing details of the land deal in the government’s Boletim Oficial —would technically give Wynn the legal right to start work on its End of the Affair? Did Wynn Macau make a misstep on its Cotai land rights—or is the government mixing messages? Macau Policy