Gaming is the number one industry in Macau, the former Portuguese colony that was returned to China in 1999, and attracts visitors from Hong Kong, mainland China and across the Asia Pacific region. Venetian Macau Limited, part of The Venetian Group from Las Vegas, successfully bid for one of three casino operating concessions awarded by the Macau Government in 2002.

Fred Kinmonth (head of corporate in our Hong Kong office) was the principal adviser to The Venetian in its bid for the concession when at his previous firm (Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison). He was closely involved in negotiating the concession with the Macau Government and the arrangement between The Venetian and their bidding partners.

In 2003, The Venetian began construction of the Las Vegas Sands Casino Macau ('Sands'). Valued at US$240 million and completed in record time, the Sands casino opened to the public in May 2004.

Minter Ellison acted for Venetian Macau Limited on the construction of the Sands casino. We advised on procurement and prepared all construction documents. This was the first time that 'construction management' was used as a form of procurement for a major building development in the South China region.

Construction management involves breaking down the construction work into a number of works packages (trade contracts), which the owner/developer enters into directly. The owner/developer also engages a specialist consultant (construction manager) to co-ordinate and manage the trade contractors, as well as the other usual consultants (architect, engineer, etc). There is no main contractor.

The method enables fast track construction, as packages can be let sequentially, and allows the owner/developer a greater degree of control over the construction process.