Macau's biggest junket operator wants to be more than a middleman lender for Chinese high rollers, so it's spending billions of dollars to transform itself into an overseas casino operator on a par with Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd.
Suncity Group, which operates VIP rooms where monthly bets recently surpassed HK$130 billion ($17 billion), is looking for partners in Japan after investing in a Vietnam resort scheduled to open in 2019. The company's international plans include owning stakes in casinos and bidding on contracts to manage others' casinos.
"As a junket operator, we don't have enough chips to play the game even in Macau," said Andrew Lo, executive director of the group's listed vehicle, Suncity Group Holdings Ltd. "In the future, if we own the integrated resorts, we have golf courses, swimming pools and restaurants. Our clients will stick with us more."