Las Vegas Sands in talks to build "strip" in Spain
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - U.S. casino operator Las Vegas Sands is talking to local governments in Spain about building a Vegas-style strip that would cost 10 billion to 15 billion euros and create up to 180,000 jobs, its CEO said on Thursday.
"We considered it seriously before the recession but we ... postponed that till the recession was over. Now we are very actively pursuing it," Chief Executive Sheldon Adelson told reporters in Singapore.
"I want to do a mini Las Vegas ... I want to build 20,000 plus rooms and millions of square feet of shopping and MICE space, and we have a study that says we can create as many as 180,000 jobs," he added.
MICE is industry jargon for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions. Many of Las Vegas Sands' properties combine casinos with hotels, retail and convention and exhibition areas.
Spain's jobless rate rose above 20 percent again in the last quarter of 2010 and hit its highest rate since mid-1997, more than double the European Union average and with little to suggest it will fall sharply soon.
Adelson, who is also Las Vegas Sands's founder and chairman, said the firm in talks with local authorities in Barcelona and Madrid about building a complex of casino-resorts and is seeking various subsidies and concessions.
Other possibilities included Valencia and Costa del Sol, which have expressed interest in being the site for the U.S. firm's planned mini-Las Vegas, he added.
Turning to Asia, Adelson said Las Vegas Sands is seeking more land to expand its casino complex in Singapore due to strong demand for convention and exhibition space.
"We are already running out of MICE space and I've told the government that we need some more land to expand," Adelson told reporters ahead of the official opening of the firm's Marina Bay Sands casino complex.
The $5.5 billion Marina Bay Sands, which started operations in April last year, is the world's second most expensive casino complex after MGM's CityCenter in Las Vegas and one of the world's most profitable.
Earlier this month, Las Vegas Sands said its Singapore casino had earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $306 million in the fourth quarter, boosted by above-normal table game winnings.
The casino, which has attracted some 11 million visitors since its soft opening in April last year according to Las Vegas Sands, generated $241.6 million in EBITDA in the third quarter.
The official opening of the Singapore casino was marred by the death of Spanish celebrity chef Santi Santamaria, who died late on Wednesday after collapsing while making a presentation at his restaurant in the casino complex.
Santamaria, who earned three Michelin stars for his restaurant Can Fabes in Spain, was one of six high-profile chefs that had opened restaurants in the Singapore casino.
($1 = 1.281 Singapore Dollars)
(Writing by Kevin Lim; Editing by Hans Peters)