SJM Resorts SA, the Macau gaming licence holding entity of SJM Holdings Ltd, announced on Monday that one of the satellite casinos that relies on its gaming rights – Casino Grandview in Taipa – will cease operations “ahead of schedule”, and do so at 11:59pm on Wednesday (July 30).
The casino operator did not specify in its Monday announcement why Casino Grandview would shut ahead of its peer satellites, but only noted that decision was in line with the group’s “overall business planning and commercial considerations”.
On June 9, SJM Holdings said it would cease operating seven of its current nine satellite casinos by year-end. Only Ponte 16 and L’Arc Macau were expected to continue operations beyond 2025 – in order to ensure that, SJM Holdings had announced plans to acquire the Ponte 16 and L’Arc Macau properties, so that they become part of its self-promoted operations.
SJM Resorts said in its Monday update regarding Casino Grandview: “All gaming tables currently operating at the location will be redeployed to other casinos of the company to continue serving our valued customers.” It didn’t mention the table inventory there.
But it also noted: “Customers holding chips, deposits, or cash rebates accumulated at Casino Grandview that remain unredeemed after its closure may visit the cage at Casino Casa Real…to arrange follow-up handling from July 31, 2025 onwards. The company will ensure that all customer entitlements are duly honoured.”
Casino Grandview and Casino Casa Real – the latter a satellite casino located in Macau peninsula – are promoted by private Hong Kong-based Kingston Financial Group Ltd that are both relying on SJM Resorts’ gaming licence. The other satellite casinos that are using SJM Resorts’ gaming rights are: Casino Emperor Palace; Casino Fortuna; Casino Kam Pek Paradise; Casino Landmark and Casino Legend Palace.
SJM Holdings’ Macau market rivals Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd and Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd had themselves on June 9, announced the ceasing of operations at their satellite gaming venues by year-end.
Under the city’s revamped gaming regulatory framework – coinciding with the current concessions of the six Macau operators – from 2026, the third-party investors in satellite casinos will only be permitted to earn a “management fee” via a “management company”.
They will not be allowed to take part in other traditional business practices for the satellite sector, such as having a share of gaming revenue. A three-year grace period from 2023 until the end of this year currently permits the latter system to persist.
Overseeing operator pledges on satellite staff
In a Monday morning release, the city’s casino regulator – Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau – said it would have onsite monitoring of the closure process for Casino Grandview.
The regulator also pledged that it would maintain “close communication” with another government department, the Labour Affairs Bureau, regarding SJM Resorts’ commitment to its “presented proposal” regarding workers at the site. That included settling the remuneration and benefits – and maintaining future working conditions – for its 159 staff currently assigned to Casino Grandview. There had also been pledges regarding seven Casino Grandview employees working directly for that satellite venue’s third-party promoter.
SJM Resorts SA said in its own Monday update: “All local employees employed by SJM will remain employed and be reassigned to other casinos of SJM to undertake gaming-related roles according to operational needs.
“Local employees working at Casino Grandview who are not employed by SJM will be invited to apply for related vacancies within the group with priority in hiring in equal circumstances,” added SJM Resorts.
CreditSights Inc, a financial research firm, said in a Friday memo about the Macau market, that closures of Macau’s satellite casinos – most of them located in the downtown area of Macau peninsula – are not likely to have “significant impact” on the gaming sector, as the affected gaming tables “would likely be recirculated back into operation at the operators’ other facilities”.
Several industry observers recently suggested to GGRAsia that the segment of Macau gaming patrons that have been frequenting satellite casinos downtown, might migrate to the big mainstream casinos on the city’s peninsula run directly by the casino concessionaires.
