Yokohama IR withdrawal of minimal impact: Sega Sammy

Sep 13, 2021 Newsdesk Japan, Latest News, Top of the deck  

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Japanese entertainment conglomerate Sega Sammy Holdings Inc has confirmed stopping its involvement in a bid to develop a casino resort in the city of Yokohama. The announcement comes after the city’s newly-elected mayor confirmed on Friday the Yokohama authorities would abandon the plan to host an integrated resort (IR).

The anti-casino mayor, Takeharu Yamanaka, said that day that the Yokohama city (pictured) will “abolish”, with effect from October 1, an office specially-assigned to promoting the casino initiative.

In a Friday announcement, Sega Sammy stated: “We have been forced to suspend our participation in the IR business in Yokohama.”

It added: “The impact of this case on the consolidated operating results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022 will be minimal.”

The Japanese firm said previously it planned to spend “approximately” JPY120.0 billion (US$1.09 billion) towards the cost of a casino resort in Yokohama, as part of a consortium including Genting Singapore Ltd.

On Friday, Genting Singapore said it had shelved its effort to develop a casino complex in Yokohama. The company, previously identified as one of the two qualified bidders in the city’s request-for-proposal process for an IR, said it was “surprised and disappointed by the unexpected turn of events leading to the city’s decision to cancel” the IR bid.

Aside from Genting Singapore, Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd, an operator of venues in Macau and the Philippines, had been identified as the other contender in the race.

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