Adelson plans version of Venetian for China

Margaret Wong

Wednesday, June 26, 2002 | 11:09 a.m.

MACAU -- After creating a model of Venice in the Las Vegas desert, a U.S. casino operator signed a deal today to go into business in this Chinese enclave with a gaming resort that also will feature canals and gondolas along with the slot machines.

"With this type of destination resort we are not only going to offer a different type of gaming experience, but we are going to offer a different type of Macau," said Sheldon Adelson, chairman of Las Vegas Sands Inc.

The company is teaming up with local investors to launch Galaxy Casino Co. Ltd., which will be the third firm competing in Macau's highly lucrative gaming trade. Adelson's company will have control but he declined in a news conference to specify the stakes held by any of his partners.

Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn signed a casino deal here Monday, taking advantage of Macau's decision to end a 40-year monopoly held by Hong Kong-based gambling tycoon Stanley Ho.

Ho has been readying for the arrival of the Las Vegas players. He's started spiffing up his flagship Macau hotel-casino, the Lisboa, with bright neon lights reminiscent of an old Las Vegas.

But Adelson said his company will have much more to offer, with the yet-to-be-named resort and casino that will have some similarities to his Venetian casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip.

It's one of two resorts Galaxy Casino Co. hopes to develop here at a cost of about $1.1 billion.

The projects are to be finished in 2006 and Galaxy's casino contract will run for 20 years.

Ho's casinos bring in millions from gamblers who live in nearby Hong Kong and have no casinos at home to patronize.

But they lack the glitter and glamour of Las Vegas, with little to liven up the atmosphere around the gaming tables. Many Hong Kong gamblers who frequent Macau say they look forward to seeing the Las Vegas operators make more of a splash here.

Adelson praised Ho but noted he has been shielded from competition for decades, whereas the Las Vegas players are used to fierce rivalries.

"The job he has done has been extraordinary," Adelson said. "He's got his fingers in virtually everything. He certainly has to be selected as one of the most successful international entrepreneurs in history."

Macau, 40 miles west of Hong Kong, was governed by Portugal for 442 years before it was returned to China in December 1999. Gaming is its top industry.