Stanley Ho’s family risks losing Portugal casinos to rival bidder

The family of the late gambling tycoon Stanley Ho risks losing the concession of two of Portugal’s biggest casinos after a rival bidder for the licence to operate both venues made a higher offer. 

The Casino de Lisboa, in Portugal’s capital, and Casino do Estoril, located in the seaside town of Cascais near Lisbon, are operated by Estoril Sol-SGPS, whose main shareholder is the Ho family. Pansy Ho, the eldest daughter of Stanley Ho’s second wife, is the chairwoman of Estoril Sol. 

The licence to operate both casinos expires at the end of December, and the Portuguese government opened an international tender in August for a new 15-year deal. The tender attracted two bids: one from a subsidiary of Estoril Sol, and another from an undisclosed suitor. 

“Overall, the competing offer had a higher value than the offer presented by our own subsidiary,” Estoril Sol said in a regulatory filing on Monday (Oct 3). The tenders will now be evaluated, it said, without providing details.

A representative for Portugal’s economy ministry declined to comment.

Estoril Sol operates the Casino do Estoril, Casino de Lisboa and the smaller Casino da Povoa, in northern Portugal. The company also has online gambling and sports betting licenscs. Estoril Sol’s revenue reached 133.2 million euros (S$188.8 million) in 2021, compared with 135.7 million euros in the previous year, said its earnings report. In 2021, net income reached 11.2 million euros. 

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Finansol, a holding company controlled by members of the Ho family, owns a stake of 57.8 per cent in Estoril Sol.

Stanley Ho, the billionaire who built the Chinese territory of Macao into the world’s biggest gambling hub, died in 2020 at the age of 98. Known as the King of Gambling, Ho has for decades held the licence to operate the casino in Estoril. He also carried out several real estate investments in Portugal after its colonial rule over Macao ended in 1999. Bloomberg