"I cannot tell the details or the actual names, but we have been discussing with operators around the world what kind of partnership we could do,” Satomi said.
Several investment analysts covering the gaming sector have suggested that foreign casino operators will have to find local partners to be able to bid for a casino licence in Japan. Those details are yet to be decided and will only be included in an implementation bill, still being drafted.
Sega Sammy is one of the few Japanese conglomerates with exposure to casino operations. It owns a 45 % stake in Paradise City, South Korea’s largest casino resort – opened in April – via a joint venture with Paradise Co, an operator of foreigner-only casinos in that country.
Asked if Paradise Co could be one of Sega Sammy’s partners for a potential casino project in Japan, Satomi replied: "We have done so in Korea, but it does not mean that we are going to partner with Paradise in Japan. We are pretty open to [consider] other operators for… a much bigger [project] in Japan.”
Satomi also said that, if selected to develop a casino resort in Japan, Sega Sammy hoped to have a majority stake in the scheme. "We are preparing for it,” he said.
The Sega Sammy executive noted in his Thursday comments that he expected Japanese nationals to be allowed to gamble domestically. "I think that the Singapore model, that is what the government is looking at,” he said.
Satomi warned if locals were not able to gamble domestically, that would have a negative impact on the size of the investment firms would be willing to stake for a casino resort in Japan. "If it is going to a be a foreigner-only [casino] in Japan, the investment will be much less than what the government expects,” he ended.
Source: GMB / GGR Asia
