Galaxy to spend $7.4b on Macao expansion

Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd, the casino operator controlled by billionaire Lui Che Woo, plans to spend about HK$57 billion ($7.4 billion) more to expand in Macao and will recreate New York's Broadway theater to woo more visitors.

The company will add a 3,000-seat entertainment theater in Macao, Lui said on Friday at a news conference in Hong Kong. Galaxy said in a statement it has committed HK$100 billion to Macao's Cotai strip, with a part of it already invested.

Galaxy joined casino operators including Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd and Sands China Ltd in shifting resources away from high-rollers to draw vacationing Chinese and other mass-market gamblers as Macao diversifies its economy, which relies on casinos for more than 80 percent of government revenue.