Las Vegas Sands, which last week beat three rival bids to develop Singapore's first casino-resort, said Tuesday that banks including Citigroup have lined up $6 billion to fund the project.
Between six and eight banks, including Goldman Sachs Group, HSBC Holdings and Lehman Brothers Holdings, have committed financing for the casino, Bill Weidner, chief operating officer at Las Vegas Sands, said in Singapore.
The money on offer to Las Vegas Sands, the world's biggest casino operator by market value, is almost double the company's 5 billion Singapore dollar, or $3.2 billion, bid for the contract. Singapore authorities chose Las Vegas Sands over MGM Mirage, Harrah's Entertainment and Malaysia's Genting.
"We will offer the Singapore government entirely external financing that's not dependent on Singapore capital," Weidner said. "With the highest market cap among casino operators, that gives us the flexibility on financing."
Weidner said the project would be financed with equity and debt, and that a portion of the loan would be guaranteed by the parent company.
Las Vegas Sands is upbeat about the prospects of getting good earnings from its integrated resort at Marina Bay.
Its Chief Operating Officer, William Weidner, expects to break even as early as 5 years from the start of operations.
Sands, which owns The Venetian on The Strip and Sands Macau, is set to go big on conventions for its Singapore Marina project, setting aside enough convention space to host up to 54,000 delegates.
Its offer will also include an ArtScience museum, six signature restaurants with celebrity chefs and two theatres with a seating capacity of 2,000 each.
Sands has also pledged to provide over 10,000 jobs at the Singapore resort, with 75 percent of them going to the locals.
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