August 13, 2009
By Beth Jinks Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) — Las Vegas Sands Corp. , the casino company controlled by billionaire Sheldon Adelson , said lenders eased restrictions on its $3.3 billion Macau loan and will allow share and bond sales in Asia. The stock soared. “The amendment significantly increases our financial flexibility and permits us to pursue a potential listing of a minority interest in our Macau operations on an Asian stock exchange,†Adelson said today in a statement. In exchange for higher interest rates, lenders granted Las Vegas Sands six quarters of relief from some covenants and will allow the company to issue as much as $1.5 billion in senior secured and unsecured notes in Macau “subject to certain limitations,†the Las Vegas-based company said. Las Vegas Sands is seeking funds to restart work on its $12 billion, 20,000-room hotel and casino complex on the Cotai Strip in Macau. Construction stopped last year as credit markets froze, revenue growth slowed and the risk of loan defaults swelled. Adelson aims to decide on the Macau plan before the end of August, he said on a July 30 conference call. Las Vegas Sands jumped $1.50, or 12 percent, to $13.79 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have more than doubled this year. Up to $500 million from the Macau equity sale must go to lenders, according to a regulatory filing today. Sands can issue as much as $1 billion of senior secured notes ranked at the same level as the Macau loans, provided the funds are used to repay some of that facility. The company also can sell up to $500 million of senior unsecured notes or senior secured notes junior to the loan, subject to leverage limits, according to the filing. Interest Rate Las Vegas Sands will pay 550 basis points more than the London interbank offered rate on the facility, up from 225 basis points now, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The rate will drop to 450 basis points more than Libor if the company “successfully completes the sale of a minority interest in its Macau operations and prepays $500 million of outstanding loans,†Sands said. An extended deadline for lenders to vote on amending the loan expired yesterday. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. first sought the changes on behalf of Las Vegas Sands on July 14. To contact the reporter on this story: Beth Jinks in New York at bjinks1@bloomberg.net
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August 2, 2009
Economists: Vegas’s good times are over
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