This acquisition gives Genting an entry point into Vegas and may signal renewed interest in the U.S. gambling hub, which has long been eclipsed by Macau in terms of revenues.
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These concerns were confirmed Tuesday by the Macau authorities.
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Sands is the first casino to be opened by a foreigner, after a decision by the Macau government two years ago to end Mr Ho's 42-year-old gambling monopoly and to auction three new gaming licences.
Yet despite the squalor, Kirk Kerkorian's MGM Mirage, Steve Wynn, Sheldon Adelson and a partnership of Park Place and Mandalay Resort Group are among the nine finalists angling to win one of three gambling licenses being granted by the Macau government.
Gross revenue for non-casino revenues increased by 50% in Macau and 10% in Las Vegas, with jumps in revenue per available room rates (RevPAR) in both locations.
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The food for which the enclave is renowned traces the route by which the Portuguese came to Macau--past Africa, the southern Middle East, Goa and Malacca--and by the ingredients available on the south China coast.
Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, looks for Macau gaming revenue to surge by at least 25% into next year.
The company said that strong contributions from Macau and Monaco had been offset by poor trading in the Caribbean.
MGM, on the other hand, is well positioned to absorb recovering VIP growth in Macau, but will be held back by limited upside potential in Las Vegas.
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U.S. authorities also are investigating the Sands to see if there were breaches of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which prohibits bribes to foreign officials by U.S. companies, in its Macau operation.
None of the 12 other Macau casinos built before Sands, all operated by a Hong Kong tycoon, Stanley Ho, had any windows.
The gains in its Macau operations in the first quarter were driven by mass table wins, which were up 63% compared to the previous year.
Macau reached its apogee, after all, by serving as a middleman.
Macau billionaire Stanley Ho Hung Sun has transferred almost all of his stake in Sociedade de Jogos de Macau Holdings (SJM) to companies controlled by family members.
While the mature markets of Las Vegas and Atlantic City struggle for revenue growth (AC is actually 40% below its 2007 peak), Macau continues to grow revenues at an astronomical rate, fueled by newfound Chinese and Asian wealth.
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The spiritual mission helped doom the enclave's material prosperity, when the Jesuits' spreading influence finally prompted Japan to shutter itself from the world by the early 1640s. (The Dutch cut off trade from the other direction by seizing Malacca in 1641.) But over the next century the effort gave Macau a purpose, as a center of learning and a bridge to the Middle Kingdom.
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