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Sands to release details of financial plan next week

AP , LOS ANGELES
Sunday, Nov 09, 2008, Page 11

The person did not elaborate and requested anonymity because the plan had not been finalized.

The company told the Securities and Exchange Commission in a filing on Thursday that it may violate promises it made to lenders and default on US$3.8 billion in debt on Dec. 31 if its operating earnings this calendar year don’t equal at least 13 percent of net debt, which subtracts cash on hand. The debt at issue is a credit facility secured by the company’s Palazzo and Venetian casinos in Las Vegas and an attached mall and convention building.

A default could set off the company’s collapse.

Las Vegas Sands said it had four options: It could boost earnings in Las Vegas, which likely would require big cost cuts and might result in layoffs; the parent company could cut spending on development around the world, raise financing to reduce the debt of the Las Vegas operations or contribute up to US$50 million in capital to the Vegas operations, or a combination of all four.

As of December last year, the company had US$9.21 billion in long-term debt.

The company has an ace in the hole in the form of deep-pocketed founder and chief executive Adelson, 75, who with his wife Miriam Adelson, controls 67 percent of the company’s shares.

In March 2006, Adelson raised US$2.18 billion in cash by selling 180.8 million shares at US$49.14 each. The Adelsons personally loaned the company US$475 million this fall to avoid a funding crunch, and it was unclear how much cash the couple had left.

In interview last month, Adelson said Las Vegas Sands was looking to raise US$2 billion in debt financing from Asian banks to finish work on some Macau expansion projects.

The company also said last month that the Adelsons intended to participate in a capital raising program, along with an unnamed investment bank, but didn’t reveal details.

In related developments, Las Vegas Sands said on Friday it hired a new chief financial officer, CB Richard Ellis Group Inc CFO Kenneth Kay, to start on Dec. 1.

It also said officials from the Singapore government and senior executives from the resort developer met to discuss the completion of the proposed US$1.4 billion Marina Bay Sands resort in Singapore amid continued concern about tightness in the credit markets.

Las Vegas Sands said those discussions included construction and marketing efforts to bring more conventions and exhibitions to Singapore.

“In light of recent turmoil in the global markets, I felt the need to personally reaffirm our commitment to the success of Marina Bay Sands,” Adelson said in a statement on Friday.

The Singapore government’s support of the project “remains strong,” he said, and he noted the casino could expand the number of table games to up to 1,000, from the original 600 planned.

The chief executive of Southeast Asia’s biggest bank, DBS, on Friday said that Las Vegas Sands Corp hadn’t given signs of financing problems at its project in Singapore.



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