LV companies dominate finalist list

January 17, 2002

Five Las Vegas companies are on the list of nine apparent finalists for a gaming license in the Chinese coastal city of Macau. The Macau government announced it is meeting with nine of 18 qualified bidders this week "for further understanding on their tenders." Listed among the companies meeting with Macau officials are MGM MIRAGE Macao, Asian American Entertainment Corp., Lucky 9 Casino Corp., Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MP Entertainment.

MP Entertainment is a joint venture between Park Place Entertainment Corp. and Mandalay Resort Group; Asian American Entertainment is controlled by Sheldon Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Inc., owner of the Venetian; and Lucky 9 is a venture of Las Vegas-based Navegante Group, a company headed by long-time casino executive Larry Woolf.

Casino mogul Stanley Ho has held a monopoly on the Macau gaming market since 1962. Shortly after the transition of Macau from Portugal to China, the government of the port city began plans to open the market to competition.