Sands chooses Madrid for potential resort complex

Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson.

Las Vegas Sands Corp., as expected, on Friday identified Madrid as the preferred location for a proposed European megaresort complex.

Madrid beat out Barcelona, which continues to pursue casino opportunities with another developer.

Las Vegas Sands has been considering developing a resort complex that could cost as much as $19 billion and include a dozen hotels and six casinos, Reuters reported.

In a statement Friday, Las Vegas Sands reiterated its equity allocation in such a project would be limited to 25 percent to 35 percent.

"The company has now completed the first phase of its extensive due diligence efforts and will move to the next phase of those activities, which will include among other things, determination of size, scope, specific location and financing options from the capital markets for the project," Las Vegas Sands said in a statement. ''The process is still very much in the early phases and progress towards resolution of the current economic challenges within Europe will be an important consideration.''

Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson has said the proposed gaming resort in Spain would cater to all of Europe as well as nations as far away as Russia.

Adelson said in Friday's statement that while the process in Spain plays out, his company will continue to aggressively focus on a variety of other development opportunities, specifically in Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.

Share