Las Vegas Sands to Build Resort in Madrid

Big news for Spain's hospitality scene today: Las Vegas Sands Corp. announced that it has chosen Madrid, Spain as the preferred location to build an integrated resort development for the European market. The company said it has now completed the first phase of its due diligence efforts and will move to the next phase of those activities, which will include (among other things) determination of size, scope, specific location, and financing options from the capital markets for the project. The company will allocate approximately 25-35 percent equity for the proposed development, and noted that the process is still very much in the early phases and progress towards resolution of the current economic challenges within Europe will be an important consideration.

"The regional government of Madrid has been a strong advocate for this potential development and we are appreciative of the energy they have brought to this process," said Sheldon G. Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp. "Barcelona is an outstanding tourism destination and choosing Madrid over Barcelona was not an easy selection. We also want to express our deepest gratitude to the people both within the Barcelona government and those who served as consultants or advisors to us there while we went through our evaluation process."

Adelson said that while the process in Spain plays out, the company will still continue to aggressively focus on a variety of other development opportunities, specifically in the Asian countries of Japan, Korea and Vietnam.