Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | September 2012 38 Asian Gaming 50 – 2012 35 William Weidner Chairman and CEO, Global Gaming Asset Management President and CEO ,Weidner Resorts As Sheldon Adelson’s right-hand man for more than a decade, Bill Weidner helped build Las Vegas Sands Corp from an operator of a single casino on the Las Vegas Strip into an international gaming powerhouse. MrWeidner served as president and COO of LVS from August 2004 to March 2009, during which time he was instrumental in both the company’s entry into Macau and its successful bid to secure a license to operate an integrated resort in Singapore. Mr Weidner left LVS in 2009 in the midst of the global financial crisis that almost sank the company, reportedly as a result of deep disagreements with Mr Adelson, and is now seeking to make his own mark on the Asian gaming landscape. In 2010, he formed Global Gaming Asset Management in Las Vegas together with three former senior executives of LVS. Last November, the group concluded a management agreement in the Philippines with Bloomberry Resorts Corp to oversee operations at the US$1 billion Solaire Manila, one of four integrated resorts planned for the new Entertainment City Manila and scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2013. Phase 1 of Solaire Manila will feature 27,700 square meters of gaming space with 1,200 slots and 300 table games. Mr Weidner also has his sights set on his own integrated resort on the Taiwanese island chain of Matsu, where a recent referendum paved the way for possible casino development. Weidner Resorts, established in January 2011, has unveiled plans for a NT$60 billion (US$2 billion) project that aims to capitalize on Matsu’s location near China’s east coast, just 10 miles from Fujian. Mr Weidner predicts Matsu can generate gaming revenues of NT$10 billion per year. Whether a casino on Matsu will come to fruition, however, is far from clear. Matsu lacks basic infrastructure and comes with high political risk. In order for an integrated resort to be viable there it would need to draw visitors from mainland China, but Beijing is not likely to grant its citizens unfettered access to a casino in Taiwan. Even if bidding is eventually opened for a Matsu IR, despite Mr Weidner’s unquestioned credentials and first-mover advantage, Weidner Resorts would still have to bid against larger and more established operators—includinghis former employer— should they get involved. 34 Rowen Craigie CEO and Managing Director Crown Ltd Australia’s casino industry has been battling some severe economic headwinds in the form of weakening consumer sentiment at home and increased competition in the greater Asia-Pacific region, most recently fromthenew integrated resorts inSingapore, but Rowen Craigie continues to lead his Crown casino group to solid results. The company saw net profit in fiscal 2012 increase 53% year on year to A$513.3 million and normalized profit, which Crown says best reflects its performance, increase 22% to $415 million. Significantly, given the re-energized competition from Sydney rival Echo Entertainment, the company managed to grow normalized revenues 8.9% at its two properties, its flagship Crown Melbourne and Burswood in Perth, to $2.63 billion, with normalized EBITDA up 5.1% to $736.9 million. Margins in the company’s all-important VIP division have been challenged, a factor of the increased competition both at home and abroad, andby a changing clientmix and higher taxes in Melbourne—still, revenue at the high end was up 19% year on year. “Our strategy to source new customers from China also continues as we seek to offset the ongoing impact of the Singapore integrated resorts on our VIP business,” Mr Craigie said in a statement accompanying the 2012 results. The bottom line also got a boost from a share of the profits from Crown’s Melco Crown Entertainment joint venture in Macau, which topped A$135million this year compared with $34.9 million in fiscal 2011. In Australia, Crown is ramping up its attractiveness to overseas tourists and gamblers, as well as to domestic holiday and business travelers. Last month, plans were announced for a new $568 million luxury hotel at the Burswood complex. The company is also looking to develop a high- end resort-scale casino in Sydney, possibly in partnership with Echo, whose Star casino on Darling Harbour holds an exclusive license in New South Wales through 2019. Crown owns 10% of Echo and has applied to NSW regulators to increase its stake. As CEO and managing director, Mr Craigie oversees all of the company’s Australian and international gaming operations.HeisadirectoroftheMelbourne and Burswood operating companies and a director of Melco Crown Entertainment (Macau) and Aspinalls Holdings (Jersey), through which Crown owns and operates London’s famed Aspinalls Club, which generated normalized EBITDA of A$20.6 million in2012. He joinedCrownMelbourne Ltd in 1993 and was appointed executive general manager of its gaming machines department in 1996. He was promoted to chief operating officer in 2000 and served as CEO from 2002 to 2007. Prior to joining the company, Mr Craigie was group general manager for gaming at the TAB inVictoria and previously held senior economic policy positions in the Treasury and Industry departments of the state of Victoria.