MGM opens resort, raises stakes in Macau

MGM Mirage Inc. opened a 600-room, Las Vegas-style resort in Macau yesterday with a celebration including fireworks and traditional dancers, raising the stakes in a Chinese gambling haven increasingly crowded by global players.

The $1.25-billion (U.S.) MGM Grand Macau, a joint venture between MGM and Pansy Ho, daughter of Macau gambling mogul and one-time gaming monopoly holder Stanley Ho, is a relative latecomer to the once sleepy former Portuguese enclave, following Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd.

"We are the last of the six concessionaires to be here, but we're here in a big way and we're going to be a part of Macau for many, many decades to come," Terry Lanni, chairman and chief executive officer of MGM Mirage, told hundreds of guests at a black-tie party in the resort's covered plaza, boasting faux castles on its four sides.

MGM was in talks with Dubai World, holder of close to 5 per cent of the company, to extend their relationship in Macau and into China, though nothing had been finalized, said Gordon Absher, vice-president of public affairs.

Now, MGM Mirage and MGM Grand Paradise - the joint venture with Pansy Ho - are pondering ways, and holding talks, to expand in the region, Mr. Absher said.

"In Macau, the MGM Grand Paradise partnership is in the process of negotiating with the government on a second site in Cotai. Separately, [Dubai World] owns land in Macau ... which may present a location of a third development site," he said.

He also said MGM Mirage was considering projects in China not related to gambling, and that Dubai World may join MGM in some or all of those projects.

Foreign casino operators jumped at the opportunity when Stanley Ho's gaming monopoly expired in 2002, setting up giant Vegas-like facilities, replete with shopping arcades, entertainment complexes and vast casino floors.

Macau's economy has jumped, too, and annual visitor numbers have doubled since 2003 when the Chinese government began to loosen restrictions on travel for its people, with their legendary appetite for gambling.

About 22 million people visited Macau last year, pumping its gambling revenues past those of the world-famous Las Vegas Strip.