Genting wins bid for Singapore’s second casino
Reuters December 8, 2006
Genting wins bid for Singapore’s second casino
SINGAPORE, Dec 8 (Reuters) – Singapore said on Friday it had chosen a consortium led by Malaysia’s Genting Bhd. <gent.kl> to build and run its second casino resort.
The winning proposal for the 49-hectare site on the resort island of Sentosa trumped two other bids submitted by Eighth Wonder and Kerzner.
Genting Bhd <gent.kl>, which bid through affiliates Genting International <gntg.si> and cruise operator Star Cruises Ltd. <sarc.si> <0678.HK>, had proposed a $3.1 billion plan that includes movie-based roller-coaster rides built by theme parks giant Universal Studios.
“We wanted a large-scale family-oriented resort that would draw a large number of new visitors to Singapore,” deputy prime minister S. Jayakumar told a briefing where he announced the decision.
Bahamas-based casino operator Kerzner International had teamed up with CapitaLand <catl.si>, Southeast Asia’s largest property developer, to submit a $3.3-billion concept headlined by Frank Gehry, the architect of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
Eighth Wonder, headed by resort builder Mark Advent, had put in the most expensive bid at $3.5 billion with its partners Mississippi-based Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. <isle.o>, Australian tycoon James Packer’s Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd. <pbl.ax> and Melco International Development <0200.HK>, controlled by Lawrence Ho, son of Macau gambling magnate Stanley Ho.
The resort is expected to operate from 2010.
In May, U.S. gaming giant Las Vegas Sands <lvs.n> won the bid for Singapore’s first casino resort along its downtown waterfront. Expected at a cost of more than $3.2 billion, the resort is set to open by late 2009 or early 2010.
