Macau concessionaire SJM Resorts will pay HK$529 million (US$68 million) to its parent company Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, S.A. (STDM) to acquire 7,504 square meters of floor space at Hotel Lisboa for the relocation of gaming tables and slot machines from its soon-to-close satellite casinos.
According to information from SJM, the acquisition represents a “strategic reallocation of resources” into one of the group’s most famous venues, expanding the existing casino space at Casino Lisboa with the aim of delivering earnings accretion and margin enhancement.
“By transferring certain gaming assets from satellite casinos to a central flagship location under Casino Lisboa, the Group expects to generate stronger returns on these resources through enhanced gaming tables and slot machines productivity in an integrated, high-volume environment,” the company explained.
“In addition, the Group also anticipates meaningful improvements in operating efficiency by unlocking economies of scale in client acquisition and other cost areas.”
SJM announced in June that it would cease gaming operations at all nine of its Macau satellite casinos by the end of the year and reallocate all gaming tables and slot machines at affected properties to its wholly-owned casinos. The company stated at the time that it would look to acquire two of those satellites – Ponte 16 and L’Arc – although no such transactions have been confirmed in the months since.
Hotel Lisboa – once considered to be Macau’s only five-star hotel – was opened in 1970 by STDM and its legendary founder Dr Stanley Ho, serving as an early precursor to the large-scale integrated resorts that are a hallmark of modern-day Macau. SJM opened the larger and more modern Grand Lisboa directly alongside Hotel Lisboa on the Macau peninsula in 2007.
SJM said that by acquiring gaming space at the older property, it can generate stronger returns by focusing its resources on a central, integrated and high-volume environment.
Together, the company added, Hotel Lisboa and Grand Lisboa represent the largest integrated resort on the Macau Peninsula with a combined 1,500 hotel rooms. Both properties are currently undergoing upgrade works to their hotel inventory with SJM looking to increase Grand Lisboa’s hotel room supply by 10% through the utilization of former junket spaces into exclusive villas, mansions and premium suites.
“The acquisition, together with the enhancement of Hotel Lisboa and Grand Lisboa, represents a coordinated transformation of the two iconic Lisboa properties,” said Daisy Ho, Chairman and Executive Director of SJM Holdings and Managing Director of SJM Resorts.
“This strategic development will strengthen the brand’s competitive positioning of the Group by fostering deeper customer loyalty across both VIP and mass market segments, while also enabling the retention of geographically loyal patrons from the former satellite casinos.
“Our vision is to support the long-term vitality of the Macau Peninsula by offering enriched tourism offerings that draw visitors and create new opportunities for commerce and communities within a revitalised neighbourhood, thereby contributing to Macau’s balanced and sustainable growth as a destination.”
