Leisure/Hotels

Pricey Japan is best game in town for U.S. casinos

4 Jun 2019

Operators like Las Vegas Sands and MGM have vowed to spend $10 bln each developing new resorts, and may pledge more. A tough rule book makes the country particularly attractive to Americans, given compliance risks in other emerging markets. But a bidding war will reduce returns.

Macau’s Las Vegas ambitions face reality check

29 May 2019

Millions of Chinese visitors are swarming the tiny territory across a new bridge. The $38 bln gaming hub doesn’t seem to know what to do with them, and is mulling a tourist tax to reduce congestion. The city’s Nevada-inspired economic diversification strategy is due a rethink.

Jaunts abroad offer useful cover for China’s Ctrip

21 May 2019

The $20 bln travel giant, owner of Skyscanner, has become a top shareholder in India's MakeMyTrip. Efforts at diversification are prudent: rivals are proliferating at home, and the economy is cooling. There's protection too, if Beijing pulls tourists into a worsening trade war.

Casino mogul’s Cambodia cash hedges investors’ bet

7 May 2019

Boss Chen Lip Keong will use some $1.8 bln of his own money to fund half of NagaCorp’s new venture, Asia’s largest gambling resort. Competition is increasing, and both Cambodia and the industry depend heavily on China. It’s still a show of confidence that can cheer punters.

Marriott’s home-sharing lacks a disruptive edge

30 Apr 2019

The $46 bln hotelier is borrowing Airbnb’s model of renting out high-end homes. Potentially it expands the business without heavy investment. But the upside is limited: Industries like hotels and taxis have struggled to don new skins without cannibalization and brand damage.

Singapore raises stakes for Macau casino permits

24 Apr 2019

Las Vegas Sands and Genting will invest some $7 bln and endure harsher rules to extend their duopoly in the city-state. Investors flinched, wiping $2 bln off shares. It increases the odds that the Chinese gambling hub will demand more onerous terms from Wynn, MGM, and rivals, too.

Australia’s Crown could be Plan B for Japan losers

12 Apr 2019

James Packer’s $6 bln casino operator is effectively up for sale after Wynn submitted an offer and then ended talks. Crown would be a decent option for rivals that don’t win a licence in Osaka or Nagoya. The likes of Galaxy, Genting or Melco may yet train their sights Down Under.

Wynn splurges on a new beginning Down Under

9 Apr 2019

The casino giant wants to buy Australia’s Crown Resorts for $7 bln. Both companies are on the rebound after break-ups with billionaire bosses Steve Wynn and James Packer, and seeking fresh starts. But a hefty 26 pct premium bets too many chips on the return of big spenders.

Chrysler Building can ape its Midtown rival

20 Mar 2019

New York City’s art deco tower is being sold for $150 mln, a fraction of what it fetched a decade ago. An onerous ground lease, renovation needs and drift away from Midtown explain much of the discount. But the Empire State Building shows how to restore luster to fading icons.

Cambodia’s casino king faces new poker hands

11 Mar 2019

Malaysian tycoon Chen Lip Keong is enjoying an extraordinary monopoly in Phnom Penh: his $6 billion flagship group, NagaCorp, grew net profit by more than 50 percent last year. But new rules and an influx of Chinese tourists will inspire upstarts to try their luck too.

Macau’s festive blowout defies economic worries

27 Feb 2019

The $38 bln Chinese gambling hub looks resilient despite concerns about slowing consumption onshore. Visits rose by 27 pct over the Lunar New Year holiday; quarterly results at Melco and MGM also inspire optimism. Efforts to attract the up-and-coming middle class are paying off.

Caesars can meet its activist high-roller halfway

22 Feb 2019

Carl Icahn has amassed roughly 10 pct of the casino operator and wants it to consider a sale. Even at Caesars’ apparent low valuation there’s no easy buyer, nor any reason to sell in haste. Icahn isn’t a bad bet for helping turn things around, though.

HNA’s haphazard selloff keeps getting trickier

9 Jan 2019

The Chinese conglomerate is flogging stakes in an online lender, life insurer and brokerage. A lack of clear strategy and market perceptions of creditor clout will make it harder to profitably unwind HNA’s $50 bln buying spree. Falling asset prices aren’t helping, either.

A plucky local upstart will take on Macau’s moguls

31 Dec 2018

Regulators in the world’s largest gambling hub could allow new players onto the casino floor when licenses expire in 2020. With frayed U.S.-China relations dealing American giants Sands and Wynn a weak hand, homegrown names like Suncity and Golden Dragon will try their luck.

LVMH pays luxury price to check into Belmond

14 Dec 2018

Bernard Arnault’s champagne-to-handbags group is spending $3.2 bln including debt on the owner of Venice’s Cipriani. The multiple of 19 times expected EBITDA is as punchy as a Belmond suite. The French group will need all its limited hotel experience to make the deal work.

Marriott breach invites data cops to check in

30 Nov 2018

Another 500 mln people now have to worry about identity theft. Hanging onto personal data, protecting it ineffectively and disclosing breaches only slowly are habits in corporate America. It’s not only Google, Facebook and their ilk that merit privacy rules more like Europe’s.

Global hotel chains get Kentucky fried in China

19 Nov 2018

A video showing staff at Marriott, Hilton and other chains cleaning cups with dirty towels has gone viral, forcing local managers to apologise. As Yum Brands found, Chinese smear campaigns can become big business headaches. An escalating trade war only increases the stakes.

Chinese tourists leave investors holding the bag

14 Nov 2018

Luggage giant Samsonite said mainland sales fell 5 pct last quarter, blaming trade tension and consumer anxiety. Travel website Ctrip is now more cautious, while peer Tongcheng-Elong shrank its IPO. The gloom will globe-trot, including to the planned market debut for Club Med.

Qatar’s flashy London deal hints at new direction

7 Nov 2018

The Gulf state’s wealth fund is buying posh London hotel Grosvenor House. Despite its neighbours’ blockade, Qatar has surplus cash to invest in trophy assets that offer good returns. Acquiring glitzy baubles suggests Qatar’s new fund managers will prioritise the former.

Movie-themed casino IPO sticks to messy script

19 Oct 2018

Macau-based Studio City, part of Lawrence Ho’s $9 bln gambling empire, made a stellar New York debut with a 24 pct pop. The listing provides some needed capital and could help existing minority investors eventually stage an exit. It also features Melco’s costly complex structure.