Bloomberg – Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS), the world’s largest gambling company by market value, said it’s ready to invest $10 billion in Japan, projected to be Asia’s second-largest casino market.
“We will spend whatever it takes,” billionaire Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson said at a media briefing in Tokyo. “We could pay all cash. We don’t have to, but we will borrow money in a typical mortgage-to-value ratio.”
Sands is opening offices and hiring in Japan, said Adelson, who’s attending a conference on investing in Japan today. The company would also consider working with a local partner that could make more than a financial contribution, he said, without elaborating or naming any companies.
While betting on horse, boat and bicycle races is allowed in the world’s third-largest economy, casinos are currently banned. Its potential as a gambling market has drawn the interest of Sands, MGM Resorts International (MGM) and Wynn Resorts Ltd. After a decade of discussions by politicians, Tokyo’s selection to host the 2020 Olympic Games has boosted confidence that a law legalizing casinos will be passed.
Union Gaming Group estimates Japan’s casino market will generate $10 billion in annual revenue, making it Asia’s second biggest, trailing the southern Chinese city of Macau. The former Portuguese colony, the only place in China were casinos are legal, had $45.2 billion casino gaming revenue in 2013, seven times that of the Las Vegas Strip.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Adelson reiterated the company is still interested in building resorts in both Tokyo and Osaka and wouldn’t consider smaller locations such as Okinawa because they wouldn’t draw as much convention business as the big cities.
