Las Vegas Sands Purchase May Tell More About Macau

拉斯维加斯金沙集团股份有限公司(Las Vegas Sands Corp.)的董事长兼首席执行长萧登•艾德森(Sheldon Adelson)最近曾靠投掷骰子来决定是否购买本公司股份，而他对于该公司最近与中国投资者的谈判可能也采取了听天由命的态度。萧登•艾德森艾德森过去两周购买了价值3,740万美元的拉斯维加斯金沙集团股票，鉴于证券法对此类购股行为的限定，这表明该公司在澳门一项交易的完成进度并不比公开披露信息所显示的快很多。证券法规定，在事关一家企业前景的重要信息公开披露前，该企业的内部人士不得买卖这家企业的股票。拉斯维加斯金沙集团的一位发言人说，艾德森和该公司对上述购股一事无可奉告。拉斯维加斯金沙集团已表示，它正与中国两家投资集团就后者购买澳门一些赌场和酒店的股份一事展开谈判。由于全球经济陷入低迷，拉斯维加斯金沙集团已经搁置了它在澳门的一些开发项目。InsiderScore.com是一家追踪及评估企业内部人士活动的网站，其研究负责人席尔瓦曼(Ben Silverman)说，如果不先期进行私下谈判，要想在澳门采取一项重要的战略举措是不大可能的。席尔瓦曼说，由于有内部人交易方面的法律约束，艾德森是不大可能在知晓重大内幕消息的情况下收购自己公司股票的。席尔瓦曼认为，要么是与中国投资者的谈判实际上并未开始，要么是这一谈判近期内不会有任何结果。他从艾德森购买自己公司股票这件事上判断，与中国投资者的谈判尚处在非常初步的阶段，与达成交易还差得远。据提交给美国证券交易委员会(SEC)的文件显示，艾德森在3月份的最后三个交易日购买了1,260万股拉斯维加斯金沙集团的股票。席尔瓦曼说，艾德森购买本公司股票虽然又是一个好迹象，但这点购买额对艾德森来说不过是九牛一毛，他2008年向拉斯维加斯金沙集团投资了约10亿美元。David J. Reynolds相关阅读何鸿燊呼吁抵制金沙集团澳门赌场 2009-03-09拉斯维加斯金沙集团正与中资银行协商澳门项目融资事宜 2008-11-12拉斯维加斯金沙集团否认下调澳门业务贷款目标 2008-08-20 本文涉及股票或公司document.write (truthmeter('2009年04月08日13:38', 'LVS'));Las Vegas Sands Co.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：LVSdocument.write (truthmeter('2009年04月08日13:38', 'LVS'));拉斯维加斯金沙集团股份有限公司英文名称：Las Vegas Sands Co.总部地点：美国上市地点：纽约证交所股票代码：LVS


Las Vegas Sands Corp.'s chairman and chief executive, Sheldon Adelson, recently rolled the dice with a purchase of company shares, and he may also have tipped his hand regarding the casino company's talks with Chinese investors.Mr. Adelson bought $37.4 million of the stock in the last two weeks, a move that, because of the nature of securities laws, suggests that the Las Vegas company isn't significantly closer to completing a Macau deal than has already been publicly disclosed.An insider, after all, is prohibited from trading while in possession of important nonpublic information about a company's prospects.Mr. Adelson and the company had no comment on the stock purchases, a spokesman said.Las Vegas Sands has said it is talking to two Chinese investment groups about their potential purchase of stakes in casinos and hotels in Macau, China's gambling enclave. Las Vegas Sands has placed some Macau projects on hold because of the world-wide economic slowdown.An important strategic move in Macau would likely be impossible without private discussions well in advance, said Ben Silverman, director of research at InsiderScore.com, a site that tracks and rates activity by corporate insiders.The legal constraints on insider trading suggest that Mr. Adelson isn't sitting on big news, Mr. Silverman said.'Either those talks really haven't started or there's nothing imminent,' Mr. Silverman said. 'The buying signaled to me that everything is very preliminary, that they must not be close to a deal.'Mr. Adelson purchased 12.6 million company shares on the last three trading days in March, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Silverman said the stock purchase, while an incrementally positive sign, amounted to a 'drop in the bucket' for Mr. Adelson, who invested about $1 billion in the company during 2008.David J. Reynolds