LAS VEGAS (AFP)--Las Vegas Sands (LVS) chief Sheldon Adelson has
said he may have arranged financing necessary to restart stalled
construction projects in Macau and the United States by the end of
2009.
The company, facing a credit crunch and a stock price in
freefall, halted the building of two resorts in Macau in November
as well as a condominium project in Las Vegas and parts of a site
in Bethlehem, Penn.
The Macau stoppage resulted in the loss of around 11,000
construction jobs in the former Portuguese colony, a Special
Administrative Region in southern China neighboring Hong Kong that
is now a casino hub.
However, gaming tycoon Adelson said he was now confident that
all of the Sands' stalled projects could resume.
"I just came back from Macau and we have five or six different
options that we can pursue, each one of which would solve our
liquidity problems," Adelson said.
"The best of the options out there would provide us with
sufficient liquidity that we will restart all of our projects by
the end of the year.
"We will finish Bethlehem, we will finish Lots five and six (in
Macau), and I don't know if I want to finish the condos in Vegas
yet just because of the market."
LVS has charted an ambitious $12 billion building plan on an
area of reclaimed land in Macau known as the Cotai Strip that, upon
build-out, is slated to include 11 resorts with a collective 20,000
hotel rooms.
The Venetian Macao and Four Seasons Macau are open; Lots 5 and
6, which include Shangri-La and Sheraton-branded hotels, are under
construction.
The company also owns the Sands Macao, a casino-hotel on Macau's
peninsula area where casinos have been clustered and where LVS'
American rivals Wynn Resorts (WYNN) and MGM Mirage (MGM) have
opened properties in recent years.
The only U.S. gaming corporation building on Cotai is LVS,
although Wynn owns property in the region.
Adelson did not disclose details of the possible financing
arrangement, but gaming industry analyst Bill Lerner speculated it
could involve selling existing assets or equity in the new
projects.
"It suggests that there's a financial and/or construction
partner that would take equity in sites 5 and 6," said Union Gaming
Group's Lerner.
"They will either sell the Sands Macao or some of the retail
areas at the Four Seasons and Venetian Macao."
LVS stock has plummeted from a high of $148 in October 2007 to a
low of less than $2 earlier this year, hovering above $9 on
Tuesday.
Adelson, 75, was the third wealthiest American according to
Forbes Magazine as recently as 2008 but fell to No. 178 this year
as his personal wealth tumbled from $28 billion in 2008 to $3.4
billion this year.