As reported by: The Associated Press
Las Vegas casino operators Harrah's Entertainment Inc., Wynn Resorts Ltd. and MGM Mirage Inc. were among eight consortiums that took the first step on Tuesday toward bidding for licenses to open casinos in Singapore.

The consortiums bought Singapore's opening casino tender, the documents that outline the city-state's requirements for the project.

Each tender costs 10,000 Singapore dollars ($6,000), the Singapore Tourism Board said.

Eight consortiums bought the documents for the 1.2 billion Singapore dollar ($700,000) Marina Bay casino site, the tourism authority said in a statement. Another casino site, on Sentosa Island, will be sold early next year.

Building the casino complex could cost the winning Marina Bay bidder up to $3 billion, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

The tourism authority said Harrah's and its local partner Keppel Land Ltd.; MGM Mirage; CapitaLand Ltd., Southeast Asia's largest property developer; Wynn and Las Vegas Sands Corp. were among those that bought the documents.

Singapore originally planned to sell the documents in the second of quarter of this year, but delayed the sale until the end of September, then until the end of November, because of difficulties balancing casino operators' desires with social safeguards.
Article By: The Associated Press