Melco International Development, a Hong Kong-listed firm controlled by the family of casino mogul Stanley Ho, is considering whether to raise its bid for Singapore's first casino resort project, as its joint offer with Australia's Publishing and Broadcasting Limited is well below rivals from the United States.
Melco managing director Lawrence Ho said offers by US bidders from US$3.5 billion to US$4 billion (HK$27.3 billion to HK$31.2 billion) are too high. He didn't identify the US bidders.
Melco and PBL have put the value of their offer at S$2.5 billion (HK$11.4 billion), and Ho said Friday the company is still studying if it will join the fray with an upward revised bid.
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The Singapore government earlier this week launched the tender for the resort project at Marina Bay, with a submission deadline of March 29, 2006.
It said the winning bidder will be chosen based on the quality of its concept. The tender results will be released by mid-2006.
The Singapore Tourism Board said nearly 10 potential bidders had collected the tender documents. Bidders include Harrah's Entertainment, which joined Keppel Land; Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands Corp, Melbourne-based Tabcorp Holdings, a consortium comprising Malaysia's Genting International and Star Cruises; CapitaLand, which teams up with MGM Mirage, and Kerzner International.
Merrill Lynch said in a report this week that MGM, Harrah's and Las Vegas Sands are "well placed" to win the tender, given their financial strength and experience.
The 50-50 joint venture of Melco and PBL is proposing to build an integrated waterfront resort, designed by architects Pei Partnership and Bates Smart, at Marina Bay near the city center that will include exhibition, cultural and convention facilities, hotel, entertainment venues and sporting facilities.
Ho said the overall quality of the proposals is also important, as the highest bid, on its own, will have limited benefit for Singapore's economy and tourism.
Meanwhile, Melco said it plans to open two slot machine parlors in Macau before the Lunar New Year. Each will cost about HK$30 million to HK$40 million.
The company opened its fifth Mocha Slot Club in Macau Friday. The new 7,500-square-foot venue has 135 electronic table games and slot machines, boosting the number of machines it controls to almost 800, representing about 30 percent of all electronic gaming positions in the city.
Shares of Melco closed unchanged Friday at HK$8.25 per share.
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