Genting Bhd will spend an initial US$3 billion (RM9 billion) to US$4 billion to develop an unfinished resort on the Las Vegas strip, as it seeks to build a US empire of casino and leisure assets. Genting, which has held Malaysia's sole casino licence since the 1960s, has focused its international expansion drive on
Genting Bhd will spend an initial US$3 billion (RM9 billion) to US$4 billion to develop an unfinished resort on the Las Vegas strip, as it seeks to build a US empire of casino and leisure assets.
Genting, which has held Malaysia's sole casino licence since the 1960s, has focused its international expansion drive on the United States. It opened a casino in New York City in 2011 and has since bought upmarket waterfront properties in Miami.
Genting bought the Las Vegas resort this year from Boyd Gaming Corp for US$350 million, in its first push into the US gambling mecca dominated by the likes of Las Vegas Sands . Construction of the resort was suspended in 2008 after the onset of the global financial crisis.
"We are looking at US$3-4 billion in total if we get approval for a casino licence (in Las Vegas)," chief executive officer Lim Kok Thay, who was widely credited with Genting's global expansion, told reporters.
With more plans being firmed out, the company now hopes to launch the theme park by the end of 2015, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Resorts World Genting.
The project is part of a five-year plan by unit Genting Malaysia Bhd to spend close to US$1 billion to spruce up Malaysia's only casino, which faces of increasing competition as Southeast Asian countries open up to gaming companies.