Caesars Surprise: Company Joins Clairvest in Pursuing Japan Casino License

Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) pulled a surprise Wednesday, announcing it’s joining Clairvest Neem Ventures K.K.’s consortium that’s seeking to wreak an integrated resort to Wakayama, Japan.

Clairvest Neem Ventures is a unit of Canadian common soldier equity unfaltering Clairvest Group and is the lone mathematical group angling to build a gaming locus to the Kansai region. The urban center recently ratified a $4.3 billion proposition with the investiture group, seemly the first off Japanese urban center to come up to terms with a partner.

The outgrowth of Caesars as the possible manipulator of a Nipponese integrated resort hotel is a 180-degree release for a society that appeared forthrightly focused on the US. When the companion known as Eldorado Resorts announced its press to acquire “old Caesars” inwards June 2019, CEO Tom Reeg said at the time opportunities to embark into international markets would need to live “stupendous for us to be running in that direction.”

Reeg is chief executive of “new Caesars.”

Caesars is an iconic brand, and we are proud to partner with CNV to fetch it to Japan,” said Reeg in a statement. “We believe our get blends perfectly with CNV’s and looking at frontward to creating something special with them for the Kansai region.”

The financial statement didn’t include inside information on Caesars’ financial loyalty to the Wakyama project, but it’s possible the US gambling casino behemoth is taking an come on similar to that of competition MGM Resorts in Osaka where the Bellagio manipulator is taking a minority stake inward prescribe to defray peril and capital costs.

Caesars Could Finally Get Its Asia Footprint

Caesars’ experience inwards Asia is riddled with missteps and “could experience been’s.” In 2001, the companionship didn’t go game after a Macau license when the Chinese territory was curtain raising to foreign operators.

That was a gaffe of heroic proportions as US rivals Las Vegas Sands, MGM and Wynn Resorts are now major players inward the Chinese territory. Today, Macau is the world’s largest gambling casino center, generating roughly three-bagger the yearbook receipts gaming revenue (GGR) Nevada does in a normal operating environment.

Fast-forward to Aug 2019 and Caesars departed the Yokohama structured resort bidding process, though that proven fortuitous because competitor operators eventually did the same and the city’s freshly elected mayor recently quashed cassino plans.

Soon before Eldorado made its acquisition offer, Caesars deserted following of a casino-resort license on Australia’s Gold Coast and earliest this year, the accompany pulled out of an integrated holiday resort externalise on Yeonjong Island in South Korea. At that time, Reeg wryly said the company sold its bet in the Korea throw “for some barbeque pork.”

Wakayama Effort Looks Credible

While federal officials experience in time to select cities for the initial ternary Japanese gaming licenses and it’s potential to be 2026 or later before even ane of the venues opens, Wakayama seems ideally situated to procure I of those permits.

With Yokohama come out of the picture, Osaka and Wakayama are inwards enviable positions inwards the Japan integrated resort hotel competition.

Additionally, the Clairvest consortium is willing to devote $4.3 one million million to the endeavor, far more than the $2.5 one thousand million than the metropolis was hoping for.

Plus, the addition of Caesars to the chemical group only bolsters its gaming credibility, which were already extensive as Clairvest controls gaming venues in the US, Canada and Chile. William Weidner, former prexy and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands, is division of the aggroup as is Tom Bradley Stone, former prexy of global trading operations and mental synthesis at LVS and Garry Saunders, former chief operating officer of Melco Resorts & Entertainment and vice chair of international trading operations for Sands.