Asian casino operator, Macau Legend Development Limited, has reportedly announced the signing of a deal that has seen it spend slightly over $90 million in order to buy a large plot of land in central Cambodia.

Casino resort possibility:

According to a report from GGRAsia, the Hong Kong-listed firm revealed the transaction via an official Monday filing while additionally detailing that the 2,965-acre parcel in Siem Reap Province could eventually house an integrated casino resort branded similar to its new 223-room Legend Palace Hotel development in Macau’s Fisherman’s Wharf district.

Expanding Asian portfolio:

Macau Legend Development Limited is also responsible for the Savan Legend Hotel and Casino in Laos and utilizes a gaming license held by SJM Holdings Limited to run Macau’s Babylon Casino Macau. It had previously exploited a similar arrangement to operate the former Portuguese enclave’s Pharaoh’s Palace Casino inside The Landmark Macau hotel.

Read a statement from Macau Legend Development Limited…

“The acquisition of the land by the group is intended for construction and development of an integrated resort in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, allowing the group to take part in and benefit from the tourism industry of Cambodia, which is important for the group’s long-term development as well as the broadening of its revenue base.”

Area ‘ripe’ for development:

GGRAsia reported that the move comes despite a May statement from an unnamed Cambodian government official that gambling was ‘not allowed’ in Siem Reap Province, which is home to the nation’s iconic Angkor Wat temple complex. However, Andrew Klebanow from American business consultancy Global Market Advisors purportedly stated in June that the largely rural region’s popularity with tourists from mainland China had seen it become a ‘ripe’ location for a new gaming establishment.