Source : TODAY, Friday, September 21, 2007
LAS Vegas Sands, the world’s largest casino operator by market value, is seeking a record loan in Singapore currency to fund construction of the nation’s first gambling house, people familiar with the deal said.
The gaming firm hired eight banks, including Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Co, Lehman Brothers Holdings, Citigroup and locals DBS Group Holdings, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and United Overseas Bank to arrange the borrowing.
Mr Ron Reese, Las Vegas Sands spokesman, did not reply. Spokesmen at the banks either declined to comment or could not be immediately reached.
The $5-billion casinobacked loan is likely to be syndicated and have a maturity of seven to eight years. Part of the money will be used to repay a US$1.4-billion ($2.1-billion) 12-month borrowing a year ago.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, regulated gambling, including casinos in the Asia-Pacific market, will expand 15.7 per cent a year to about US$30.3 billion in 2011.
Singapore will compete for Asian punters with Macau, the Chinese city that reaped 55.9 billion patacas ($10.5 billion) gaming revenue last year, surpassing the Las Vegas Strip as the world’s biggest casino market. — BLOOMBERG
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