SINGAPORE: Las Vegas Sands, the world's largest casino company, wants to raise $3-$4 billion and is considering several options including an initial public offering (IPO) of its Macao assets in Hong Kong, chairman and chief executive Sheldon Adelson said yesterday.

"We are looking at a Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing, among five or six options," Adelson told Reuters Insider TV in an interview in Singapore, adding that the firm hopes to get a total of $3-$4 billion through various fund-raising initiatives.

Sands may also raise cash by selling stakes to private equity firms or getting construction companies involved in its projects to assemble their own financing, he added. He denied reports that the company was considering a bond issue in the United States.

The global casino industry has been hit by a drop in leisure spending and Sands has cut staff in the US and postponed construction projects in Macao to conserve cash. Analysts estimate the company needs to raise about $1.5-$2 billion to complete its developments in Macao.

Reuters reported in May that Sands had hired Goldman Sachs to look at a potential Hong Kong listing for its Macao operations and the company planned to cut around 4,000 jobs or about 20 percent of its workforce in the Chinese territory.

Adelson, however, said the global economy appears to have bottomed and that its Las Vegas casinos had exceeded budget projections for May and June. The Macao properties have also performed better than the industry average in terms of visitations and revenues.

"We are at the trough of the recession... From this point on, I think we are going to see an improvement," he said.

Adelson said Sands has put on hold plans to sell the retail component of its Venetian casino in Macao because of the weak financial markets, and it hoped to resume construction in Macao at the end of 2009.

Sands owns the Venetian Macao and Sands Macao, and is involved in the development of several casino-resorts on the Cotai Strip.

Turning to Singapore, where Sands is currently building a waterfront casino on the edge of the central business district, Adelson said the Marina Bay Sands is now expected to open in either January or February next year instead of at end-2009 as earlier announced.

Reuters

(HK Edition 07/09/2009 page4)