Macau casino operator SJM Holdings Ltd says it will cease operating seven of its current nine satellite casinos by year-end. Only Ponte 16 (pictured in a file photo) and L’Arc Macau are expected to continue operations beyond 2025 – in order to ensure that, SJM Holdings has announced plans to acquire the properties where each of the two casinos is based, so that they become part of the group’s portfolio of self-promoted operations.
Closing “once the current service agreements expire at the end of 2025” are, according to a company press release issued on Monday: Casino Casa Real and Casino Grandview, promoted by private Hong Kong-based Kingston Financial Group Ltd; Casino Emperor Palace, under Hong Kong-listed Emperor Entertainment Hotel Ltd; Casino Fortuna, linked to a Macau business group; Casino Kam Pek Paradise, promoted by Macau-based gaming equipment supplier and casino services firm Paradise Entertainment Ltd; Casino Landmark, connected to Macau property investor Chong Sio Kin; and Casino Legend Palace, linked to Hong Kong-listed hotel and casino services provider Macau Legend Development Ltd.
Earlier in the day, market rival casino operator Melco Resorts & Entertainment Ltd had said three venues that are part of its network of Macau-based slot-machine parlours – branded as Mocha Clubs – would “cease operations before the end of 2025”. The same was to happen to Grand Dragon Casino, a third-party promoted operation in Macau’s Taipa district, running under a “satellite casino” agreement.
SJM Holdings’ own Monday press release was issued via subsidiary SJM Resorts SA – the unit actually holding the Macau casino licence.
It said that, “following in-depth analysis and evaluation by the board, taking into consideration factors such as their alignment with SJM Resorts’ long-term objectives, and the group’s overall competitiveness, and the strategic locations of the satellite casinos, the board has concluded the intention to acquire the properties where Casino L’Arc Macau and Casino Ponte 16 are located.”
It added: “As of now, negotiations regarding the potential acquisitions have not yet commenced, and no binding agreements have been reached.”
SJM Holdings is already a joint venture partner – with Hong Kong-based Success Universe Group Ltd – in Ponte 16, a property located in Macau’s Inner Harbour district. L’Arc Macau is linked to interests represented by Angela Leong On Kei, co-chairman and executive director of SJM Holdings.
SJM Holdings directly owns and operates four casinos, namely, Casino Lisboa, Casino Grand Lisboa, Casino Grand Lisboa Palace and Casino Oceanus at Jai Alai.
SJM Holginds’ current nine satellite casinos generated gross gaming revenue of HKD2.85 billion (US$363.2 million) in the first three months of 2025, up 7.6 percent in year-on-year terms, according to SJM Holdings’ first quarter results announcement. The segment produced adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of HKD79 million, compared to a negative print of HKD52 million in the opening three months of 2024.
The casino operator stated that, regardless of the outcome of negotiations for the potential acquisitions, “all gaming tables and slot machines from affected satellite casinos will be reallocated” to SJM Resorts’ self-owned casinos.
“SJM Resorts is committed to safeguarding local employment in Macau. All Macau residents currently working at the satellite casinos scheduled for closure, regardless of whether they are directly employed by SJM Resorts or by its third-party partners, will be offered job opportunities within SJM Resorts’ portfolio of properties,” the company said in its Monday release.
It added: “Those who are already SJM Resorts’ employees will retain their employment and be reassigned to similar gaming-related roles at other casinos based on operational needs. Non-SJM Resorts’ staff who are local residents will also be invited to apply for suitable positions of the group.”
SJM Holdings emphasised it did not expect the restructuring of its satellite operations to “have any material adverse effect on the group’s operations, liquidity, or profitability”.
Macau currently has 11 satellite casinos that continue to operate under the 10-year gaming concessions that started in January 2023. Nine of those 11 satellite casinos are under SJM Holdings’ licence; one is under Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd’s permit; and one – Grand Dragon Casino – is under Melco Resorts’ gaming rights.
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.
In its 2024 annual report, Melco Resorts had given notice that, “under the Macau Gaming Operations Law, concessionaires, such as Melco Resorts, may continue to operate games of chance in casinos in properties that are not owned by them for a period of three years from January 1, 2023 under authorisation of the Chief Executive of Macau.”
According to a Thursday report from CLSA Ltd, there could be possible upgrades in gaming table yields for some Macau operators from likely closure of loss-making satellite venues.
