Sands Macau
US-based Las Vegas Sands raises Macau casino budget to 1.8 bln usd - report
HONG KONG (AFX) - The Las Vegas Sands Group plans to spend 1.8 bln usd on constructing its new casino in Macau, doubling figures previously proposed for the project, the Standard reported.The group said this in a filing this week with the US securities regulators ahead of a planned flotation by the company, the paper said.The Standard noted the proposed Macau resort will resemble the company's flagship Venetian casino in Las Vegas and will be the biggest casino to be built in the former Portuguese colony.The first phase of the project will feature 1,500 hotel suites and 49,000 square meters of gambling halls, the report said.Like its casino in Las Vegas, the Macau Venetian is likely to have faux canals with gondoliers and Venice-themed facilities.The new property will join the company's Sands Macau, which opened in May, the first foreign-owned casino to take advantage of new laws allowing overseas competition in what had been a gaming monopoly controlled by tycoon Stanley Ho.

- posted by Michael P. Whelan @ 2:21 PM