SJM Holdings has bought an older, three-storey building on Macao’s Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro – commonly known by its Cantonese name San Ma Lo – and plans to turn it into a mass market “food and beverage hotspot.”
The building, which currently functions as the Kam Pek Community Centre, was acquired for a sum of HK$166 million (US$21.2 million), according to a statement released by the concessionaire yesterday. The vendor was SJM’s parent company Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, S.A. (STDM).
SJM says the refurbished community centre will serve “as a culinary anchor at one end” of the avenue, with the company’s “Grand Lisboa and Hotel Lisboa at the opposite end.”
[See more: SJM shrinks losses in the first quarter of 2024]
The casino operator also says it spent HK$31.1 million (US$3.9 million) to gain full ownership of NYH European and NYH Italian, two other STDM subsidiaries that have been respectively operating the EL&N and Mamma Pizza restaurants at the Grand Lisboa Palace Resort.
SJM said the acquisitions would help it to manage costs, pricing and service quality.
The company added that the additions were part of a broader initiative to optimise its “food and beverage portfolio at Grand Lisboa Palace, aligning with SJM’s strategy to attract the mass market with a diversified range of international restaurants and cafes.”
