Macau's Sands China Under Scrutiny by HK Regulator
Sands China, the Macau unit of billionaire Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands, said it is under investigation by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission for alleged regulatory breaches.
A company spokeswoman told Reuters she was not in a position to comment.
Hong Kong-listed shares of the $19 billion gaming company were down 3.5 percent on Thursday. They had dropped about 9 percent in the two weeks following an announcement by parent LVS in early March that it was being scrutinized by
U.S. anti-corruption agencies.
Former Sands China chief executive Steve Jacobs is suing Sands China in Nevada courts for breach of contract, and has accused the company of, among other things, seeking to use "improper leverage" against senior Macau government officials.
Analysts said the investigation by Hong Kong regulators was to be expected and had mostly already priced into the shares.
"If it is just Steve Jacobs again, I don't think it is a big issue. The SFC has to respond to the FBI and the SEC in the States, so if it is not really new news, I am not that worried about it," said Gabriel Chan, at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong.
Operator of The Venetian complex in Macau, Sands China competes in the former Portuguese colony with MGM Resorts International and Wynn Macau, a unit of
Steve Wynn's, Wynn Resorts.
It has an about 20 percent share of Macau's lucrative gaming market, where revenue streams are at least four times higher than those in Las Vegas, second only to tycoon Stanley Ho's SJM Holdings' more than 30 percent.
The once-tranquil outpost on the South China sea has been transformed in recent years into a frenzy of neon lights and playboy bunnies, bolstered by mainland gamblers that flock to China's only legal gaming destination.
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