Pansy Ho, daughter of Macau casino king Stanley Ho, joins SJM Holdings shareholder alliance to secure controlling stake in the company
Hong Kong businesswoman Pansy Ho has formed a strategic partnership to secure a controlling stake in her father’s casino empire SJM Holdings. Ms. Ho is currently co-chairing rival gaming company MGM China.
The businesswoman’s conglomerate Shun Tak Holdings announced last night that Ms. Ho and four other shareholders in SJM’s parent company Sociedade de Turismo e Diverso˜es de Macau (STDM) have agreed to combine their stakes into a combined 53% interest in a bid to manage SJM in a more efficient manner.
The newly formed alliance has thus put itself ahead of Angela Leong, SJM’s current Co-Chairwoman and fourth wife of Macau casino king Stanley Ho. Mrs. Leong holds an 8% stake in the gambling giant.
According to a filing issued yesterday, all involved parties in the alliance will submit a common proposal and will decide together on the appointment of a Chairman and Managing Director when the time comes for a vote on the members of the STDM board. The next such vote is set to occur on or around March 31.
SJM Holdings operates hotel and casino properties in Macau. As already pointed out, the company is a subsidiary of STDM, which Mr. Ho established as the only licensed casino operator in the former Portuguese colony back in the 1960s. Macau is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal, and STDM held the monopoly over the provision of casino gambling for more than five decades.
The Macau government ended that monopoly in 2002 by issuing gaming licenses to five more concessionaires and subconcesionnaires that year and in the following years.
License Expiration
News about the new SJM shareholder alliance arrive ahead of the looming expiration of casino licenses in Macau starting next year through 2022. The licenses of both MGM China and SJM are set to expire in 2020. The government of Macau has remained tight-lipped on how, when, and whether the existing licensees will have their licenses extended.
Ambrose So, the Chief Executive of SJM, has said previously that his company would seek a two-year extension of its license before it expires in March 2020. If the company is granted the two-year extension, it will come in line with the four concessionaires whose licenses are set to expire in 2022.
MGM China is, too, seeking the same two-year extension. Executives at the two companies have said that the move would set all six licensees on a level footing and that they would all be able to compete at the same pace.
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