Madeira group looking for local partners

The Madeira group Siram is looking for partners in Macau to manage casinos in Porto Santo and Cape Verde, and to develop an innovative spa project in Macau, Siram president Silvio Santos told Portuguese news agency Lusa.
One of the company’s’ real estate and tourism developers is having difficulties financing its Colombo’s Resort tourism project, in the Madeiran island of Porto Santo, and are looking for partnerships and a new ownership structure focused on the areas of tourism and gambling, to be set up next year.
With a current budget of €200 million, Colombo’s Resort, a five star resort to be managed by Starwood, is looking for new investors which may come from Macau, depending on the revival of construction work.
Due to the changing market conditions, and a not ideal real estate environment, Siram who has a gambling license in Porto Santo, decided to meet the challenges by reversing their strategic priorities, moving forward with gaming in relation to the real estate, according to Santos.
With the casino building of Colombo’s Resort finalised, the only thing missing is the set up of the operation, and in view of future development projects on the islands of Boavista and Santiago, in Cape Verde, Santos came to Macau to seek the know how of the gaming industry for the establishment of partnerships that look at Porto Santo as a gateway to Europe and Africa.
 “We believe in the geo-strategic position of Porto Santo as a bridge to Europe and Africa, and Cape Verde as a bridge to Europe, Africa and the Americas,” said Santos, adding that the “gaming concessions in Cape Verde are not assigned” and that Siram is “well positioned to get one of them.”
In addition, the Madeira group is looking for a hotel partner in Macau to export a health and wellness project, offering treatments such as non invasive liposuction, a product that Santos admits is in the same segment as Maló Clinic, but argues that this will be more innovative. Next year, Siram is set to showcase its projects in Portugal, Madeira and the Azores, and in Cape Verde, to attract investors from Macau, Hong Kong and Singapore.