Investment company SJM Holdings is optimistic about turning around the fortunes of a struggling casino operator that was once dominant in the Macau gaming market, by investing in the Cotai region.
In the vibrant gambling hub of Macau, casino giant SJM Holdings is aiming to regain its lost market share with the upcoming opening of the Grand Lisboa Palace. The $4.6 billion integrated casino resort, set to open by early 2019, will mark SJM Holdings' first casino resort on the Cotai Strip.
The Macau gambling market, with gross gaming revenues exceeding $33.2 billion last year, is three times larger than Nevada's entire casino industry. In this competitive landscape, SJM Holdings held a market share of only 15.2 percent last year, a figure that has since declined to 12.3 percent as of mid-2025. This puts SJM behind industry leaders like Galaxy Entertainment (20.3%) and MGM China (16.8%), with Sands China, Melco, and Wynn holding shares in between but closer to Galaxy and MGM than to SJM.
The decline in SJM's market share can be attributed to regulatory-driven restructuring in Macau’s casino sector. The Macau government, through the 2022 Gaming Law, mandated the closure of most satellite casinos by the end of 2022, including seven of SJM’s nine satellite casinos. SJM is consolidating its remaining satellite casinos like Ponte 16 and L’Arc Macau under direct management to improve operational efficiency and long-term competitiveness.
The Grand Lisboa Palace, with its 2,000 five-star guestrooms and a casino floor with up to 700 gaming tables, is expected to play a significant role in SJM's efforts to regain its market share. The resort, led by SJM's new chairman and executive director, Daisy Ho Chiu Fung (who replaced her father, the "king of gambling," Stanley Ho), will offer a fresh and modern gaming experience to Macau's visitors.
While SJM's market share has decreased recently, the sector’s transformation through satellite casino closures and operator consolidation is ongoing and expected to influence market shares and competitiveness further in the near term. The Grand Lisboa Palace could be a game-changer for SJM Holdings, helping the company to reposition itself more strongly in the future.
Sources:
- Macau Business
- Bloomberg
- Reuters
- The gambling market in Macau, larger than Nevada's entire industry, continues to be dominated by industry leaders like Galaxy Entertainment and MGM China, with Sands China, Melco, and Wynn also holding significant shares, leaving SJM Holdings in a lower position.
- SJM Holdings, faced with a decline in market share, has attributed this to regulatory-driven restructuring in Macau’s casino sector, which has led to the closure of many satellite casinos, including seven of SJM’s nine.
- In response to the market shifts, SJM is consolidating its remaining satellite casinos under direct management to improve operational efficiency and long-term competitiveness.
- The upcoming opening of the Grand Lisboa Palace, the first casino resort by SJM on the Cotai Strip, is expected to play a crucial role in SJM's efforts to regain its market share, offering a fresh and modern gaming experience led by casino personality Daisy Ho Chiu Fung.
- The transformation of the Macau casino sector, including the closure of satellite casinos and operator consolidation, is ongoing, creating continuous change in market shares and competitiveness, as evaluated in general news, Macau Business, and Bloomberg reports.
- The influence of policy and legislation, politics, and casino culture in Macau's casino-and-gambling industry can be seen through the 2022 Gaming Law, which has impacted the businesses of major casino personalities like SJM's Ho family.
