Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd (also known as GEG) has signed a MOP13.01-billion (US$1.63-billion) deal with a local unit of China State Construction International Holdings Ltd for the building of Galaxy Macau Phase 4, an addition to the gaming group’s flagship Galaxy Macau resort (pictured) on Cotai.
A Sunday filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by Galaxy Entertainment said the work would take 1,053 calendar days – approximately three years – to complete. A start date was not mentioned, only that it would be “seven calendar days after the issuance of architect’s instruction”.
Galaxy Entertainment’s current Macau gaming rights expire in June 2022, in common with the city’s other five licensees. A public retender process is due to be held in association with the expiries, although the Macau government also has the possibility to extend the current licences for up to five years.
Galaxy Entertainment’s development deal for Phase 4 of Galaxy Macau is with China Construction Engineering (Macau) Co Ltd, a Macau-registered unit of China State Construction. The unit is required to provide a MOP245 million performance bond, “to guarantee China Construction’s due performance of the relevant contract services”, said the casino firm.
Galaxy Entertainment had mentioned in commentary filed on November 10 with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, that development of Phase 3 and Phase 4 of the Galaxy Macau property “may be impacted” because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The commentary was part of the firm’s unaudited highlights of its third-quarter results.
The completion date for Phase 3 at Galaxy Macau has been pushed back to the second half of 2021, flagged separately two separate brokerages in November notes, citing commentary by Galaxy Entertainment’s management.
Phase 3 is to feature 1,500 hotel rooms, some casino space, a large-scale arena with 16,000 seats, and 400,000 square feet (37,161 square metres) of meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) space.
