Genting Singapore Plc, part of the Malaysian based Genting Group, recently announced that it had decided to shut-down its Macau subsidiary with immediate effect. The company decided to close its Genting Star (Macau) Ltd office, which is an indirect but one hundred percent owned subsidiary that was incorporated in Macau.

Genting Star (Macau) Ltd was acquired back in 2005 by the Genting Group and parent company Genting Star Ltd. The acquisition was completed via the Genting International Plc and was considered a strategic acquisition, as back then Macau’s casino industry was growing at a rapid pace and soon turned into the biggest gambling hub in the world.

The Genting Group along with the Genting Star (Macau) had made plans to pursue a new project that would involve the construction of a new casino hotel located right opposite the former Casino Lisboa site. The project was going to be built on re-claimed land and the casino operations were expected to be run by SJM Holdings Ltd.

SJM Holdings Ltd which is based out of Macau is owned by casino mogul and billionaire Stanley Ho Hung Sun. SJM Holdings is one of the six casino enterprises in Macau that is permitted to run casinos. The company owns and operates a number of casinos in Macau including the Grand Lisboa, Casino Ponte 16 and Casino Fortuna.

The Genting Group decided to drop their plans of proceeding with the new casino development after the authorities in Singapore expressed their concerns over the proposed venture. According to news reports, back in Feb 2007, Singapore’s casino regulators asked the Genting Group to provide detailed information regarding their list of questions over the casino deals that took place between the Genting Group of companies and SJM Holdings and its association with Stanley Ho.

The 92 year old Stanely Ho has now retired from the Macau casino industry, but over the years a number of casino regulators from Australia and the United States have investigated the Hong Kong billionaire’s alleged ties to the Chinese mafia and the Macau junket industry.

The Genting Group and Genting Star (Macau) have yet to make it clear as to why they suddenly decided to shut down their Macau subsidiary.  The Genting Group is not involved with any other casino projects in Macau. The company has confirmed that the liquidation of its Genting Star (Macau) operation will most likely have no negative financial impact on its overall revenue for this year.