Sands' Macau sale may raise US$12 billion

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman Sheldon Adelson has said that the planned sale of the casino operator's Macau malls and apartments may raise as much as US$12 billion and recoup their construction costs.
In a recent interview Adelson, the founder and Chief Executive of Las Vegas Sands, stated âit will be US$12 billion if we add up all the apartments and all the retail in Macau,�? including those in buildings still under construction. The company may start selling the Macau assets within 2 1/2 years.
Sands, which Adelson describes as âan Asian company with a presence in Las Vegas and the USA,�? gets 73% of its revenue from Macau, the world's largest gambling market. Adelson was recently in Singapore Tuesday to open the Marina Bay Sands, the city-state's second casino, and raised his earnings forecast for the resort, saying the US$5.5 billion invested in it will be recouped in five years.
Asia will contribute 85% of revenue once the Singapore casino âramps up,�? said Adelson. Last year's sales totalled US$4.56 billion, with 27% coming from Las Vegas, where the company is based.
Asia has room for five to 10 cities like Las Vegas, Adelson said. The most likely countries to approve casinos in the region are Japan and Taiwan, he said.
Macau assets Sands may sell include the Four Seasons apartments and shopping areas in the Venetian Macau casino resort and in the Four Seasons hotel, Adelson said. The plan also includes selling condominiums at the St. Regis, where construction is resuming.
Still, Jonathan Galaviz, an independent strategist who follows travel and leisure in Asia, said apartments and malls in Macau may be a tough sell to investors, given that the city isn't a proven place for housing investment, and that a huge asset bubble may be developing in Asian real estate.
Adelson, who is Sands' controlling shareholder, said in December that selling the retail areas at the Four Seasons and the Venetian would raise enough money to pay Sands' debt. The company has US$12.2 billion of bonds and loans due from next year to 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The billionaire, who previously said the Singapore project would add more than US$1 billion in annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, didn't provide a new figure apart from saying he was raising his forecast. The return period compares with four years for the Macau project, which cost about half as much to build.