Gaming developer and operator MGM Resorts International says it would be interested in exploring investment opportunities in Thailand, if that Southeast Asia nation legalises casino gambling. If realised, such investment would be done via Macau-based operator MGM China Holdings Ltd, said Bill Hornbuckle, chief executive and president of MGM Resorts.
Speaking on MGM Resorts’ second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday, Mr Hornbuckle (pictured in a file photo) said he and Pansy Ho Chiu King, chairperson and an executive director of MGM China, would visit Thailand this month, “looking at that opportunity”.
“That [Thailand] is a venture that we’re interested in and, if we do that, we’ll do it through MGM China Holdings,” stated Mr Hornbuckle.
MGM China runs casino resorts MGM Macau and MGM Cotai in Macau. MGM Resorts controls a nearly 56-percent stake in MGM China.
Brokerage CLSA Ltd suggested in a recent note that MGM Resorts was among four of Macau’s six operator brands likely to be interested in – and have the financial capacity for – investment in a casino project in Thailand.
The institution thinks the annual gross gaming revenue (GGR) value of a Thai casino industry – mostly driven by foreign players – could be US$8.5 billion, up to as much as US$30.8 billion, though CLSA said its “base case is US$15.1 billion”.
On Wednesday’s call, Mr Hornbuckle also talked about the prospects of gaming in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The website of the UAE gambling regulator – the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) – has gone live to the public, and the body has also announced the country’s first-ever lottery licence.
MGM Resorts is currently developing a hotel project in Dubai, at Porto Island, Jumeirah, a land reclamation site just north of the iconic Burj Al Arab building. The firm’s CEO said previously he expected the company would eventually be authorised to operate a casino there.
Mr Hornbuckle said on Wednesday that the announcement of the first-ever lottery licence in the UAE was “great news”.
“I’m encouraged that the rest of this will roll out as defined. Now timing is still unknown … but I can’t imagine that by end of this quarter or into early next, that we won’t know with some specificity around what it means for Abu Dhabi and then potentially what the umbrella language is, as it relates to all of the other Emirates,” stated the executive.
“We’re excited obviously by our position in Dubai. We and our partner have an amazing facility property that’s under construction as we speak,” he added. “That facility has an accommodation for a large-scale casino [if licensed].”
Mr Hornbuckle said he believed the UAE’s “initial licence is going to be spoken for”.
“But I would suggest that each Emirate will have its own opportunity to issue a licence,” he added.
Global gaming operator Wynn Resorts Ltd – parent of Macau casino operator Wynn Macau Ltd – is currently developing a casino resort project, Wynn Al Marjan Island, in Ras Al Khaimah, one of the UAE’s emirates. The project – scheduled to open in 2027 – has been described as US$3.9-billion venture involving local partners, in which Wynn Resorts is a 40-percent equity investor.
Brokerage CBRE Capital Advisors Inc said recently the Wynn venture could generate US$1.4 billion annually in GGR.
