Pansy Ho, daughter of Macau casino king Stanley Ho, outpaced her father near the top of Asia's billionaire list with the IPO of MGM China, a Macau casino she co-owns with MGM Resorts International. The Hong Kong IPO, the last of six companies operating in Macau to be listed, brought in $1.5 billion, and is thought by some to be valued too highly.
Reuters reported that MGM China said in its statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it had sold 760 million shares at the high end of the range it had set: HK$15.34 ($1.97) per share, for a total of $1.5 billion.
The former Portuguese colony of Macau (it was returned to China in December of 1999) is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal. It is also the world's largest center of gaming, far outstripping Las Vegas with revenues of $10 billion just for the period of January-April 2011. That's equal to the Nevada city's entire yearly total for 2010. With gambling revenues at all-time highs; the Thomson Reuters Hong Kong Casinos & Gaming Index is up so far this year more than 41% in a broader market that is otherwise flat. This has fueled a boom for the share prices of other local casinos, which led to a surge in demand for shares of MGM China.