The Malaysian casino giant is embarking on major expansion of its Singapore operations, while bidding for one of three gaming licenses in Japan
The Chairman of Genting Group, Lim Kok Thay, said he is optimistic about his company getting a casino license in Japan. Genting is gearing up preparations to bid for one of three licenses up for grabs for entry in the nascent Japanese market through its subsidiary Genting Singapore.
Genting Singapore currently runs Resorts World Sentosa, one of the two operational integrated resorts in the Southeast Asian city-state. According to a report by research firm Maybank Kim Eng from last year, Genting’s Singapore subsidiary was in a good position to win a coveted Japan gaming license with its “huge net cash pile.”
The Chairman of the Malaysian gaming and hospitality giant said today at the company’s annual general meeting that he is confident in the success of Genting Singapore’s bid to enter Japan. Mr. Lim went on to explain that the Japanese government has followed the Singapore model of casinos within larger integrated resorts to craft the rules under which its own casino industry would be formed and regulated.
The Malaysian billionaire believes being the operator of a Singaporean integrated resort would give Genting Singapore an important advantage in what would be a heated race involving global gambling giants once the bidding process for the three gaming licenses is launched by Japanese lawmakers.
Resorts World Sentosa Expansion and Analyst Warnings
Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands, Singapore’s other integrated resort, have embarked on a S$9 billion expansion of their existing operations under an agreement with the government of the city-state. The two properties will have their duopoly over casino gambling extended to end-2030 in exchange for the major investment they are pledging.
Genting Singapore revealed that it would spend S$4.5 billion (approx. $3.3 billion) on doubling the gross floor area of its property and adding multiple new non-gambling attractions, including a new Minion Park and a Super Nintendo World theme park. Mr. Lim said today that they also plan to add 1,100 new hotel rooms.
Genting is currently building Resorts World Las Vegas, which it has described as a “multi-billion dollar integrated resort” but has not disclosed an overall budget for. According to analysts, investment into one of the biggest development projects on the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip could go all the way up to $4 billion.
Fitch Ratings said today that while Genting has “the liquidity, leverage and free cash flow capacity to fund the development [Resorts World Las Vegas]”, “any additional multibillion-dollar investments will likely delay [the company’s]
trajectory.”
Resorts World Las Vegas is on track to open doors in late 2020. As for the Resorts World Sentosa expansion, it will be carried out in several phases starting from next year through 2025.
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