Mark Brown, who opened the world’s largest casino with Venice Macao in 2007, is no stranger to thinking big and carrying out fantastic and incredible plans. I recently had the opportunity to interview Mr. Mark and tell readers more about the Saipan Best Sunshine Plan. The interview starts below.
Best Sunshine International Limited, a 100% subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Imperial Pacific Holdings Limited (HKEX:1076), is willing to bet $7.1 billion that the U.S. Pacific Island Saipan will soon have everything it needs to become the ultimate international vacation for VIP gamblers, year-round sunshine-wanted families, and couples looking for the ultimate wedding venue.
In March 2014, best sunshine provided an exclusive gambling service for 40 years in saipan, located in the mariana Islands (CNMI), and in July it soft launched dealer training centers and makeshift casinos in luxury shopping centers, with 6,000 visitors a day. At the end of October, Excel Earth Limited, a subsidiary of Imperial Pacific, terminated its loan and profit sharing agreement with Macau Casino Junket Heng Sheng Group. In early November, Mark Brown, the current president and CEO of Best Sunshine, resigned as COO of Cambodian gaming operator NagaCorp, later joining Best Sunshine, and held the official grand opening of the Beach Road casino on Nov. 27.
Within a few months, Garapan’s Best Sunshine Live rose to the world’s fourth place in rolling chip volume (an indicator of VIP table play). In its first full month of operations, the casino hit $1.44 billion in rolling chips, and in April it beat that number to $3.2 billion. June’s numbers declined, according to a July 2 filing with HKEX.
To obtain the island’s first casino license, the company had to commit at least $2 billion in investment and provide at least 2,000 hotel rooms. Instead, they raised the bid to $7.1 billion. Phase 1 of the development is expected to take place before the end of this year, with Grand Mariana offering more than 250 game tables. A 14-story hotel with 373 luxurious hotel rooms and 15 deluxe villas will open soon. Currently, the temporary casino offers about 50 tables, and unlike Macau, Saipan does not have a table cap. Once construction is complete, Best Sunshine will provide Saipan with thousands of rooms, world record-breaking amenities and two separate tourist attractions that will offer many gambling opportunities.