A senior executive of Macau junket investor Tak Chun Group said it expected the opening of a new VIP gaming club at MGM Cotai – the newest property promoted by MGM China Holdings Ltd – to take place in the final quarter this year. The junket investor will continue to run its operations at MGM Macau, the first property by MGM China, located on the Macau peninsula, said Tak Chun’s chief financial officer, KH Tsang.
Mr Tsang was speaking on Wednesday on the sidelines of a launch ceremony for the firm’s expanded VIP operation at StarWorld Hotel, a property operated by Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd. The expanded VIP club at StarWorld – launched under a collaboration with another junket promoter, Seng Keng Group – features a total of 16 gaming tables in seven VIP rooms, according to its promoters.
According to the Tak Chun executive, the new VIP club at MGM Cotai would be the firm’s 17th venue in the Macau market. At present, eight of the 16 VIP gaming clubs that Tak Chun operates in Macau are located in the Cotai district. “It [the opening at MGM Cotai] will be an expansion and that is to answer to the bigger demand that we saw [from our patrons],” said Mr Tsang.
“The opening time [for the venue at MGM Cotai] is to be decided by the casino operator [MGM China]. But it should take place around October or November,” added Mr Tsang. The CFO said additionally that the firm is yet to confirm if its planned new operation at MGM Cotai would feature other collaborators.
The executive also mentioned that the group is interested in setting new VIP facilities at Grand Lisboa Palace, a scheme being developed by SJM Holdings Ltd. The casino operator said in its interim results filed in July that it was “striving” to complete construction of its Cotai scheme “by the end of 2018 and to seek the relevant licences to begin operation as soon as possible thereafter”.
Tak Chun has been expanding its VIP gaming services in the city, having opened two new venues this year, the latest one at the Macau Roosevelt Hotel in May. “We needed these new venues in order to widen our offer to our customers. And they [the newly established VIP clubs] definitely boosted our gaming volumes,” Mr Tsang remarked.
Outside Macau, Tak Chun opened a VIP club at casino resort Okada Manila in the Philippines in March. In April the junket group launched a VIP club at the casino inside the Crowne Plaza Danang resort in Vietnam. The junket firm operates four VIP gaming clubs under its own brand outside of Macau, according to company information..
Mr Tsang said on Wednesday that Tak Chun is not planning to open new venues outside of Macau this year.
“There has been several overseas places – for instance, as remote as in Cyprus and South Africa – where we have had some discussions,” noted Mr Tsang. “If there’s actually a need, we’ll add more venues overseas … depending on the cooperation conditions and whether we see demand from our patrons,” he added.
