Satomi recounted Sega Sammy’s efforts to date in the following manner: “We acquired the Phoenix Seagaia Resort in 2012, which is a smaller integrated resort without casino. We then got involved in the Paradise City project that is the joint venture between Paradise Group Korea and Sega Sammy Group. We opened an integrated resort from scratch, developed and operated it together and we sent more than fifty Japanese people into the vicinity, so we’re heavily involved in the operation by now.”
Although the elder Satomi has been repeating that Sega Sammy is aiming for the “main position” in a Japanese IR, the son Haruki Satomi offered more nuanced comments: “We were quite open to partner with anyone, and what we publicly say right now is since it is a Japanese project, we try to lead the project, which means we try to take the majority of stake. If we don’t get the partners, it’s okay to be a minority share.”
Without offering specific company names, Satomi noted “most of the operators we have had discussions with already. But some operators obviously said that they’d like to be majority stakeholder of project.”
Satomi also hinted that Sega Sammy would prefer to be a minority stakeholder in a major urban IR than the leading operator in a regional location.
Source: GMB / AG Brief
