Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming September 2015 44 Kathmandu development and the planned resort to the South of the capital represents a huge opportunity given its proximity to India and China’s massive and growing middle class and Nepal’s cultural affinity with its Southern neighbor,” SHL CEO Mike Bolsover said in a statement. “The casino is primarily aimed at providing expanded international standard gaming opportunities for customers from the growing Indian, Chinese and Bangladeshi markets, and also services the Asian expatriate community living in Nepal,” the statement added. SHL is also embarking on the first in a series of greenfield resort developments along the Nepal/ India border via its Tiger Palace Resorts moniker. The company has come a long way since its inception in 2003, when Mike Bolsover and the company’s Executive Director, Tim Shepherd, first met at a hotel in Malaysia. The pair discovered they were both independently establishing sports bars and slot operations in Southeast Asian casinos. Mr Bolsover, born in Hong Kong and with a Finance degree from Emory University in Atlanta, GA, had been a proprietary trader and business development director with the sports betting group Victor Chandler International for four years from 1999. Mr Shepherd had moved toHong Kong in themid 1990s and had worked as a consultant to the UK-founded bookmaker Ladbrokes and to Macauslot, Macau’s only licensed sports betting operation in which Macau’s former gaming monopolist Dr Stanley Ho has a stake. With their common interests and complementary expertise, Messrs Bolsover and Shepherd joined forces just as Silver Heritage’s first operations began at Laos’ original licensed casino—now known as Dansavanh Nam Ngum Resort— in 2004 and later that year started working with its second licensed partner, a casino operator in Poipet, Cambodia. It’s been a heady ride since then, with the company having parlayed its successful track record of operating small- to medium-sized slot clubs and automated casino installations to now operating and developing full-fledged casinos. SHL has grown its business 35% CAGR over the past 3 years and in 2015 is on course to grow more than 40%. The company notes that its model is mass market casino gaming, and since its business is diversified across Asia including targeting the long- neglected Indian gaming market, it has been able to weather the storm currently affecting Macau’s gaming industry. As for upcoming new developments, the company’s first Tiger Palace Resort is under construction in Bhairahawa, Nepal. “We believe the company will likely expend approximately US$50 million on this 400-room project,” estimates Union Gaming. “Bhairahawa, Nepal borders the Uttar Pradesh state of India, which is home to more than 200 million persons. While GDP per capita in Uttar Pradesh is low (approximately US$500 per capita), there are still millions of wealthy and relatively wealthy individuals within a reasonable drive time of the site. Over time, and based on the economic opportunity demonstrated by Silver Heritage, we would expect other regional gaming operators to take notice.” A 50% share in any market is pretty impressive, but Kangwon Land goes that one better in South Korea, where it holds 100% of the legal casino gambling market for Koreans. Last year, Kangwon’s monopoly on local players raked in 1.4 trillion won ($1.3 billion) in gaming revenue, up 11.1% from 2013. But Kangwon Land’s exclusive hold on domestic players expires in 2025, and CEO Choi Hung-jib, who took office in 2011, is in charge of preparing for that day. The company’s stated goal is to have a world-class replacement by 2020, not just to secure its own post-monopoly future but to continue its overriding mission to contribute to the economic revival of Gangwon Province, its host region. Mr Choi’s background in local and regional administration, including a stint as a lieutenant governor of Gangwon, suggests he’ll hold that focus. Choi Hung-jib President and CEO Kangwon Land Inc. Gangwon is a former coal mining area shut down as part of a government drive in the late 1980s to close inefficient mining operations. The authorities promised alternative economic plans for these areas, with the big prize of a casino for Korean players to be awarded to the most depressed region. The town of Sabuk in Gangwon, about 230 kilometers east of Seoul, was the winner. Kangwon Land, 51% owned by government entities, was