Japanese gaming conglomerate Sega Sammy Holdings Incorporated has reportedly announced that it now intends to be a minority player in any campaign to win one of its home nation’s trio of integrated casino resort licenses.

According to a report from GGRAsia, the Tokyo-listed behemoth made the revelation during a Friday question-and-answer session while furthermore explaining that it will be looking to bring a Las Vegas-style casino resort to Japan with a prominent foreign operator serving as the majority investor. The source detailed that the disclosure came a little over a week after the giant firm pronounced that its net profit for the twelve months to the end of March had declined by 90.7% year-on-year to approximately $11.6 million.

Existing experience:

Sega Sammy Holdings Limited is already responsible for the non-gaming Phoenix Seagaia Resort on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu while additionally holding a 45% stake in South Korea’s Paradise City integrated casino resort. The Tokyo-headquartered company had reportedly been hoping to serve as the major investor in the integrated casino resort project being floated for the nearby city of Yokohama and inked an associated alliance in January with British architecture firm Foster and Partners Limited.

Practiced prerequisite:

However, Japanese officials are reportedly known to be keen on having international operators with extensive experience in running large gambling-friendly developments serve as the majority partners for the three envisioned integrated casino resorts. In Yokohama, for example, Sega Sammy Holdings Incorporated is purportedly up against Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited and Genting Singapore Limited for the right to bring a gambling-friendly facility with a minimum $10 billion price-tag to a 116-acre waterfront parcel of land near Yamashita Park.

Future feasibility:

Sega Sammy Holdings Incorporated reportedly told investors that its planned Yokohama integrated casino resort could ‘become viable even if we curtail our investment’ and that establishing partnerships for the venue ‘would be better than tackling this business alone.’ The firm purportedly also asserted that ‘there is a strong possibility’ that it would be able ‘to secure adequate profitability’ by participating as a minority investor in any such project.

Monetary matters:

Finally, Sega Sammy Holdings Incorporated reportedly pronounced that it the legalities surrounding the three coming integrated casino resorts including the 30-year duration of their licenses presented a ‘big concern.’ The company purported told investors that independently financing such a project under these circumstances would be ‘tough’ and that it has now ‘judged that it would be better to control risks and aim at appropriate returns.’

Pursuit particulars:

Although most gambling is currently illegal in Japan, the coalition government of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe passed legislation in July of 2018  that is to see the nation of some 126 million people offer up a trio of casino licenses. In order to be selected as a host for one of these coming facilities, candidate communities are being required to partner with an experienced foreign operator before submitting their final plans to a panel of federal selectors ahead of an April of 2022 deadline.