A backer of one of Macau’s biggest junket operators has revealed that they want to construct a $3 billion casino resort complex in the western Pacific island of Saipan. Macau’s growth has come off the boil lately, and the junket operators, Hengsheng is attempting to diversify away from the former Portuguese territory in the south-east of China, near Hong Kong, as growth in Macao slowsin 2014 due to a softer Chinese economy and a crackdown on corruption by Beijing.
According to the Huffington Post, Saipan Is The Most Beautiful Place In America You’ve Never Heard Of.
Imperial Pacific International Holdings Limited, which is the investor in the Hengsheng Group junket, said it was looking in Saipan to build an integrated casino resort after being given a 25-year casino licence by the government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The casino would be Saipan’s first. It’s the largest island in the U.S. commonwealth and is 5 hours by plane from Shanghai.
What is a Junket?
Well, junkets lend money to rich gamblers from China, using property and company equity as collateral. The market has become tougher, property prices on the way down and less cash around generally. More than fourteen of the smaller junkets have been forced to close down and the larger ones are looking to merge to gain economies of scale.
Las Vegas Sands and MGM Resorts are also looking for new locations in Asia.
