Back in January, when Sociedade de Jogos de Macau began to present its IPO to raise as much as US$1 billion, potential investors were said to be wary of the potential of a lawsuit from Winnie Ho, sister to SJM head Stanley Ho. The two had been at odds over the shareholding structure of STDM, the parent company of SJM—so much so that the IPO had already been delayed two years. In fact, according to an article on Forbes.com, the litigious Winnie has filed some 30 lawsuits against Stanley in the past six years.

Their fears were not entirely wasted. Winnie did file for a judicial review just two days before the scheduled July 8 launch, claiming that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Securities and Futures Commission had neither acted in the public interest nor weighed her lawsuit regarding a funds transfer from STDM to SJM.

Then, a judge ruled that Winnie had failed to convince the court of her claim. The IPO could proceed.

The move did result in a delay of the launch, which was scheduled for July 16. But the current investor climate could prove to be just as much of a hindrance as family.

SJM wants to sell 1.25 billion new shares to raise up to HK$5.1 billion, according to the prospectus. That would come to around US$654 million, not quite the billion hoped for at the start of the year.

By early July the total raised was just under US$500 million, with shares priced at the low end of the HK$3.08-$4.08 per share range.

By GGB Staff

Staff writers for Global Gaming Business magazine. Las Vegas, Nevada.

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