Inside Asian Gaming

September 2015 inside asian gaming 43 and host an untapped pool of Chinese expatriate executives and workers,” stated the company. Mr Chow added: “We consider this investment in Cape Verde a great opportunity and allows a Macau enterprise to make use of the Sino-Portuguese platform to expand its business overseas. Also, the project follows the China government’s national policy of ‘One Belt, One Road,’ a strategy to help position Macau as one of the important cities on the Maritime Silk Road, and has the potential to lead the small and medium enterprises of Macau to expand internationally.” Mr Chow has been involved in Macau’s gaming industry for four decades, first as a junket representative, then as a casino developer and operator. The 65-year-old investor, husbandman, high-stakes gambler, junketeer, honorary consul (Cape Verde) and all-around mover and shaker, a former member of the Macau Legislative Assembly and a longtime protégé of Stanley Ho’s, believes he still has a thing or two to teach the “new entries,” as he derides his Las Vegas-style competition on Cotai. to more than 1,200 (the property previously had only a single 72-room hotel), a pier, a dinosaur museum and a hoped-for 350 additional gaming tables—35 of which were granted by the government in October last year. It could fail to get all the expected tables owing to the government’s cap on the market-wide growth in the number of tables of 3% per annum. Macau Legend Development, which in addition to MFW also operates the Pharaoh’s Palace Casino located nearby at the company’s Landmark Macau hotel, reported its gaming revenue fell 31.3% year-on-year in the first half of this year to HK$450 million ($58 million), despite the opening of the Harbourview Hotel and 35 new gaming tables. The company hastened to add, however, that its gaming revenue decline was less severe than the citywide 37% reduction recorded in the first half. Adjusted EBITDA in the period was down 70.4% to HK$128 million. Looking ahead, Macau Legend Co-Chairman and CEO David Chow said: “We are expecting growth to return with the government reviving favorable policies to support the industry, but as revival to previously high growth momentum is not expected at this stage, we are, therefore, taking steps to manage our operating and capital costs in Macau and to explore opportunities to grow outside Macau.” In July 2015, Macau Legend entered into an agreement with the government of the Cape Verde islands, an archipelagic nation off the northwest coast of Africa, which, like Macau, is a former a Portuguese colony, to develop a casino there. The company has received a 25-year gaming license from Cape Verde authorities, with the first 15 years on an exclusive basis. In addition, it has also been granted an exclusive nationwide 10-year exclusive license to operate online gaming, as well as physical and online sports betting in Cape Verde. The gaming and entertainment complex, to be located in Praia, the capital of Cape Verde on Santiago Island, is expected to need US$275 million in investment and will include high-end hotels, casinos, conference centers and yacht piers, among other facilities, with construction expected to begin as early as next year. “This resort, when completed in 3 years, will be at a hub for some of the major cities in Europe, Africa and South America, all of which have seen significant investments from China in recent years Owing to the frontier nature of Nepal’s gaming market, “we would not expect the incumbent large Asian gaming operators to participate,” notes a Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd report published last month. “Rather,” it adds, “we would expect Nepal to draw the interest of smaller regional operators, which ultimately could lead to market entry by medium-sized regional operators. Mike Bolsover Chief Executive Officer Silver Heritage Ltd To date, Silver Heritage (operations in Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Philippines, and Vietnam) is the only prominent gaming operator to move forward with development.” SHL was the first operator to be granted a gaming license by the Nepal government under newly instituted regulations as part of an industry shakeup—which notably also reversed the previous ban on foreign ownership of licenses, paving the way for SHL to become the country’s first international operator. SHL has been operating The Millionaire’s Club & Casino at the Shangri La Hotel (not affiliated with the Kuok Group) in Lazimpat, Kathmandu, since early 2015, a boutique property currently offering 22 live gaming tables and 36 electronic gaming machines. “The Company has been looking to invest in the Nepali tourism and recreation industry since 2011 and we are confident the