Macau gaming licence holder SJM Resorts Ltd says it decided not to proceed with the previously-announced plan to acquire casino hotel complex Ponte 16 (pictured). As such, Casino Ponte 16 will stop operating at 11.59pm on November 28, said the company in a Thursday press release.
SJM Resorts, a unit of Hong Kong-listed SJM Holdings Ltd, stated: “Following a comprehensive business review, the company will not proceed with the previously stated intention to acquire the property where Casino Ponte 16 is located.”
“The decision was reached after a thorough assessment of long-term business planning, commercial considerations and resource prioritisation across the group’s portfolio,” said the casino concessionaire.
It added: This outcome reflects the company’s disciplined approach to capital deployment and its focus on strengthening core operations in line with market developments and the group’s long term development strategy.”
SJM Resorts said it has signed a “mutual termination agreement” with Pier 16 Entertainment Group Corp Ltd, with Casino Ponte 16 “to officially cease operations at 23:59 on Friday, 28 November 2025”.
“All gaming tables and gaming machines currently operating at the location will be redeployed to other casinos of the company to ensure service continuity for customers,” stated SJM Resorts.
Hong Kong-listed Success Universe Group Ltd is a joint venture partner, with SJM Resorts, in Ponte 16, a property at Macau’s Inner Harbour district. The gaming venue is considered a “satellite” casino of SJM Holdings. SJM Resorts controls a 51-percent stake in Pier 16 Entertainment Group.
SJM Resorts said in Thursday’s announcement: “Customers holding chips, deposits or cash rebates accumulated at Casino Ponte 16 that remain unredeemed after its closure may visit other SJM Resorts casinos from 29 November 2025 onwards for follow up arrangements.”
The casino group also said it would “ensure that all customer entitlements are duly honoured.”
All locals working at the venue directly for SJM Resorts “will remain employed and be reassigned to other casinos of the company to undertake gaming-related roles according to operational needs,” observed the casino firm.
It added that local workers at the property that were “not employed by SJM Resorts will be invited to apply for related vacancies within the group with priority in hiring under equal circumstances, and support measures will be provided as appropriate to ensure a smooth transition”.
In its own Thursday filing to the Hong Kong bourse, SJM Holdings said the closure of Casino Ponte 16 “will not have any material adverse impact on the business, operation, liquidity or financial condition of the group taken as a whole”.
Success Universe statement
In a filing on Thursday, Success Universe said that notwithstanding the closure of Casino Ponte 16, “the group will continue its travel-related business as well as property investment business, and investment in Ponte 16 project”.
In August, Success Universe posted a net loss of just under HKD33.7 million (US$4.3 million) for the first six months of 2025, compared with a HKD35.5-million loss a year earlier, according to the firm’s interim results.
The company added that the group’s shared profit of the associates relating to Ponte 16 stood at HKD48.5 million in the six months to June 30, down from HKD58.2 million in the prior-year period.
“The carrying amounts of the group’s interests in the associates [relating to Ponte 16] were approximately HKD814.0 million as at 30 June 2025,” stated the firm.
Success Universe added that based on a preliminary assessment, it “expects to report a significant reduction in the group’s share of results of the associates” from the closure of Casino Ponte 16.
On Thursday, the SJM group separately announced that it would acquire Arc of Triumph Development Co Ltd, which owns L’Arc Hotel, for a total consideration of HKD1.75 billion (US$224.8 million). The property houses Casino Le Royal Arc, also known as Casino L’Arc Macau, which will be incorporated into SJM Resorts’ core operations.
Meanwhile, Casino Casa Real, on Macau peninsula, is set to end its gaming operations at 11:59pm on Friday (November 21). Prior to that, Casino Legend Palace – part of the waterfront leisure and entertainment complex Macau Fisherman’s Wharf on the peninsula – shutdown at 11:59pm on November 12. Both were under SJM Resorts’ gaming rights.
The closure of Casino Ponte 16 will leave three satellites remaining in Macau, all of them under SJM Resorts licensing. They are: Casino Landmark, Casino Kam Pek Paradise, Casino Fortuna.
