Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands casino group said it is dropping plans to build a $35bn mega-resort outside Madrid. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Adelson had sought assurances from Spanish officials that tax rates and other conditions would not change with future governments, and also sought exceptions to Spain’s ban on smoking in public places and limits on Internet gambling in the country.
“We have reiterated time and again that our internal development process would dictate the outcome of a proposed development in Spain. That process has been extremely thorough and while the government and many others have worked diligently on this effort, we do not see a path in which the criteria needed to move forward with this large-scale development can be reached. As a result we will no longer be pursuing this opportunity,” said Las Vegas Sands Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson.
“As chairman and CEO, my role is not only creating a vision for the company’s future, it is also fulfilling it in a way that best represents the interests of our shareholders. Developing integrated resorts in Europe has been a vision of mine for years, but there is a time and place for everything and right now our focus is on encouraging Asian countries, like Japan and Korea, to dramatically enhance their tourism offering through the development of integrated resorts there,” he continued.
Michael Leven, president and Chief Operating Officer, added: “We are thankful to the many people who have devoted time and energy in an attempt to bring this development to fruition. The government of Spain, specifically the Regional Government of Madrid, has continuously pursued this opportunity with the interests of the Spanish people in mind and they should be commended for their efforts.”
source : www.totallygaming.com
