Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | October 2013 16 FEATURES B loomberry Resorts has found a new chief operating officer with Asian credentials to take the helm at Solaire Resort & Casino after last month’s surprise firing of its management partner and 8% equity holder. Thomas Arasi, who got the $5 billion Marina Bay Sands open in 2010 and quit the following year after 18 months as president and CEO, is replacing Michael French at the At Solaire, a New Ace in a Reshuffled Deck Once, Tom Arasi was Sheldon Adelson’s man in Singapore. Now, he’s back in Asia as Enrique Razon’s man in Manila $750 million gaming and hotel complex in Manila, which just opened in March as the first of four resorts planned for a government-sponsored tract of reclaimed land on Manila Bay called Entertainment City. Mr French, whom Bloomberry described in a 12th September filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange as the “official representative” of William Weidner’s Global GamingAssetManagement, was let gowhen Bloomberry terminated its management services agreement with GGAM, claiming in the same filing that the firm “has not spent any material time in attending to the management of Solaire and has failed to perform its obligations and deliverables under the MSA.” Las Vegas-based GGAM, founded by Mr Weidner and Brad Stone, both former top executives at Las Vegas Sands, is contesting the termination via arbitration in Singapore, saying Bloomberry’s assertions “have no factual or legal validity” and charging the PSX-listed company with having “materially breached” the MSA. Mr French served under Messrs Weidner and Stone at The Venetian in Las Vegas and held senior positions with Melco Crown Entertainment’s Altira and City of Dreams resorts in Macau before coming to Solaire. Mr Arasi, who also will hold the title of president with a seat on Bloomberry’s board, is returning to Asia fresh off a brief stint as president of Hospitality for Caesars Solaire Resort & Casino Tom Arasi in his final days at Marina Bay Sands with Bollywood superstar Hritik Roshan