Macau casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd announced on Friday the completion of its acquisition of the L’Arc casino hotel on the Macau peninsula. The firm also confirmed that its wholly-owned subsidiary SJM Resorts SA had been authorised by the Macau government to operate L’Arc as a self-promoted casino.
L’Arc (pictured) is a downtown property that hosts one of the SJM group’s satellite gaming venues, Casino L’Arc Macau.
The acquisition of L’Arc – formalised on November 20 – was completed on December 17, the SJM group said in a Friday press release.
“Following the completion of the acquisition, SJM Resorts received the requisite approval from the Macau government to directly manage and operate Casino L’Arc Macau from 2.00am on December 30,” it added.
That means Casino L’Arc Macau will no longer be managed under a service agreement as a satellite casino. Instead, it will be absorbed into SJM Holdings’ core gaming operations as a self-owned and self-operated gaming venue.
“This addition to the group’s portfolio strengthens its position within a high-density catchment area, enhancing synergies across its Lisboa-branded properties and enabling SJM Resorts to retain geocentrically loyal customers, improve customer circulation and broaden its market reach,” the firm stated.
Investment bank JP Morgan stated in a memo earlier this month that the HKD1.75-billion (US$224.8-million) price SJM Holdings had agreed to pay for the L’Arc Hotel complex appeared “attractive” and represented a “good deal” for the casino group, given its “prime location” on the Macau peninsula.
Under the city’s revamped gaming regulatory framework – coinciding with the current concessions of the six Macau operators – with effect from 2026, third-party investors in satellite casinos would only be permitted to earn a “management fee” through a “management company”.
They would not be allowed to engage in other traditional business practices in the satellite sector, such as taking a share of gaming revenue. A three-year grace period from 2023 until the end of this year currently permitted the latter system to remain in place.
SJM Holdings said on June 9 that it would cease operating seven of its then nine satellite casinos by year-end 2025. Only Ponte 16 and L’Arc Macau were expected to continue operations beyond then. To ensure this, SJM Holdings said it would absorb their gaming operations into its core business; however, it ultimately decided to discontinue operations at Ponte 16 as well.
Macau’s two other satellite casinos – operated under the respective concessions of Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd – closed earlier this year.
