Tycoon plans upgrades

Thursday, March 28, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.

MACAU -- Casino tycoon Stanley Ho and the Macau government signed a contract today for one of three new gambling concessions in this former Portuguese colony on China's southern coast.

"We are very pleased to have signed the new gambling license with the Macau SAR government, which has turned a new page from monopoly to open competition in the gaming industry," Ho said.

Macau, a special administrative region of China, recently awarded three casino licenses, ending Ho's 40-year gambling monopoly and bringing in competition from Las Vegas casino resort developers Steve Wynn and Sheldon Adelson.

Ho said his Macau Gaming Co. would continue to operate its current 11 casinos, while spending $590 million in the next three to five years on upgrading them.

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