Macau casino operators facing six-month license extension costs

In Macau and every member of the enclave’s six-strong club of licensed casino operators is reportedly being asked to pay at least $6.2 million in order to have their lucrative local gambling concessions extended by a further six months.

According to a Wednesday report from Asia Gaming Brief citing information from area radio and television broadcaster TDM, the firms are being allowed to apply for the six-month license extensions as their current certifications are due to expire on June 26. The source detailed that this all comes as Macau is continuing to finalize the tenets of its draft gaming bill and work out just how it intends to issue the casino companies with longer ten-year concessions.

Sextuple situation:

Macau is currently home to over 40 casinos operated by Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited, SJM Holdings Limited, MGM China Holdings Limited and Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited as well as the local Wynn Macau Limited and Sands China Limited subordinates of Wynn Resorts Limited and Las Vegas Sands Corporation respectively. These operators are all reportedly expected to apply for license extensions once the former Portuguese enclave’s draft gaming bill is finalized to take their valuable concessions up to the end of 2032.

Pricey provision:

In the interim and Asia Gaming Brief reported that every member of Macau’s licensed casino operating club is now being asked to pay between $6.2 million and $9.9 million so as to extend their soon-to-expire concessions until December 31. This necessity has purportedly been joined by an obligation for each of the firms to take out individual guaranteed bank facilities worth an estimated $198.6 million that would be used to compensate workers should their eventual longer-term license extension bids fail.

Earlier expansion:

Global investments research firm Sanford C Bernstein Limited reportedly earlier estimated that the individual cost of the six-month license extensions would probably run to something like $6 million, which is about equal to what SJM Holdings Limited and MGM China Holdings Limited each paid in 2019 so as to boost their concessions through to the summer of 2022. This facility was purportedly granted at the same time as the local government asserted that it already held the ability to lengthen every one of the six operators’ licenses by up to five years to late-June of 2027.

Doubtless demands:

Asia Gaming Brief reported that Macau’s draft gaming bill, which is currently the subject of behind-closed-door deliberations following a successful first reading in January, is expected to moreover include a range of new anti-corruption and national security provisions alongside a clause that would effectively abolish satellite casinos and sub-concessions. The source noted that these could potentially be joined by an obligation for the six licensees to bring more non-gaming elements to their facilities and hit minimum annual gross gaming revenue targets.