Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming September 2015 30 60% of Bloomberry shares, said. “That this is happening despite new competition gives credence to our conviction that the Philippines is a prime market for gaming for both local and foreign players. We’re on the right track.” Rather than examining Solaire’s successes to understand Mr Razon, it’s perhaps more instructive to look at what he did when he thought Solaire had gone off course. Solaire got off to a sluggish start under management of Global Gaming Asset Management, former Las Vegas Sands President and COO William Weidner’s group loaded with ex-LVS senior executives, which also bought an 8.35% stake in Bloomberry. Mr Razon, who can be spotted around Solaire wearing jeans and an oxford shirt open at the neck, expected to see top GGAM executives on site far more often than he did. Especially when the business struggled, he wanted his management team to be all in, like him. So barely six months after Solaire’s opening, he fired GGAM. The parties are still in arbitration over a settlement, but meanwhile Mr Razon acted boldly to right his investment. In a bit of irony, he hired another LVS alumnus, former Marina Bay Sands CEO Thomas Arasi, to replace GGAM. Early this year, Mr Razon began to realize his ambition to take Solaire global in Korea. He reportedly explored possibilities in several of the 21 countries where International Container Terminal Services, the company his father started, runs ports, without finding satisfactory opportunities. With South Korea putting two gaming licenses on offer, Bloomberry, through its Solaire Korea subsidiary, purchased 12.2 hectares on Muui Island, a seaside resort close to the nation’s gateway airport in Incheon. Muui is within the Incheon Free Economic Zone where Caesars Entertainment and South Korea’s largest casino operator Paradise, in partnership with Japanese gaming machine maker Sega Sammy, have already been licensed to build IRs. Construction work is to be completed in 2017 on a bridge that will make it a 15-minute drive to Muui from the airport. In March, Mr Razon doubled down on his Korea bet—twice. In Incheon, Bloomberry bought 21-hectare Silmi Island, adjacent to its Muui site. Sightseers flock to the area to see the strait between the islands empty spectacularly at low tide, enabling people to walk between the islands. Bloomberry has formulated a $3 billion master plan for the site that includes hotels, residences, a wedding chapel, water park and naval battle reenactments. Mr Razon has taken a very hands-on approach to the project, a source says. “It’s the kind of thing he loves.” Bloomberry’s Incheon project is one of more than 30 applicants reportedly vying for two foreigner-only casino licenses. There’s no guarantee it will win one. But Bloomberry has already secured a Korean gaming license on Jeju, the resort island off Korea’s southern tip that’s a very popular domestic and foreign tourist destination. In March, the company announced it had purchased LVegas Casino and T.H.E. Hotel in Jeju City, where most of the island’s eight foreigners- only casinos are clustered. Jeju, an autonomous region, gives visa- free access to mainland Chinese. Genting Group is building a $1.8 billion IR on Jeju in partnership with mainland property developer Landing International. The casino license that came with LVegas would smooth the regulatory path for Bloomberry to build its own IR there, if it so chooses. Korea is a good fit for Bloomberry, drawing gamblers from close by northern China, while Manila’s Chinese clientele is mainly from the country’s south. The Philippines’ biggest inbound tourism market is Korea, so quality properties in Korea with attractive non- gaming components catering to locals could encourage them to choose Solaire when they visit Manila. It’s a bold but smart play, the sort that’s characterizes Mr Razon’s business success. Resorts World Manila introduced the integrated resort concept to the Philippines and is credited with doubling the gaming market to $2 billion. The IR’s Travellers International Hotel Group parent company broke ground last year on the $1.1 billion Bayshore City Resorts World in Entertainment City. Due to open in 2019, Bayshore will be the last of the four IRs in the bayfront cluster. A Travellers executive said that being the first mover in the market and the last to build in Entertainment City is the ideal position to be in. That’s likely true in the long run, but currently it’s putting the squeeze on Travellers as it faces increased competition from Entertainment Kingson Sian President Travellers International Hotel Group