Regal Hotels pulls out of venture with Sands

Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005 | 11:16 a.m.

HONG KONG -- Regal Hotels International Holdings Ltd. said it has pulled out of a joint venture in Macau with U.S. casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp., opting to develop the hotel and casino project alone.

Regal, which operates five hotels in Hong Kong and two in mainland China, said in a statement Wednesday that the two companies had failed to agree on the final details of the deal they signed in March. The plan was to build hotels, entertainment facilities and a casino.

"By reason of certain material changes in the circumstances affecting some fundamental issues that had remained unresolved, the terms of the definitive agreements could not be agreed or finalized," Regal said without elaborating.

The company said the agreement "ceased to have effect" as of Tuesday.

Under the abandoned deal, Regal was to build and then lease to Sands parts of a sprawling project, including a 130,000-square-foot casino and a 1,500-seat theater, the company statement said.

It was to form part of the U.S. company's venture with at least eight hotel chains to develop an Asian version of the Las Vegas Strip in Macau. Las Vegas Sands plans to operate casinos at many of those hotels.

In its statement Wednesday, Regal said it "invested a significant amount of time, efforts and resources" in the venture, and that it has applied to the Macau government for approval to develop the project on its own.

Regal said it would press ahead with plans to build three hotels with a total of 3,950 rooms, as well as restaurants, a theater, a convention plaza, shopping and entertainment areas, and a hotel training school. The casino it plans to build, which originally Sands would have leased, would now be leased to "an authorized gaming operator in Macau."

To be built in two phases, Regal's total project should be completed by early 2008, the company said.