Sands China adopts alternative HK bourse public-float threshold as LVS stake tops 75pct

Hong Kong-listed Macau casino operator Sands China Ltd says its public float of shares has fallen slightly below the 25 percent initial prescribed threshold under the bourse’s listing rules. As of a Tuesday filing, its public float was 24.99 percent of issued shares on the latest practicable date. A total of 75.01 percent of Sands China was – as of the filing – held by Venetian Venture Development Intermediate II (VVDI II). That entity is controlled by United States-based Las Vegas Sands Corp, the parent business founded by the late Sheldon Adelson. Sands China said in its Tuesday filing that as a result of its parent being slightly above the initial prescribed threshold for its shareholding, Sands China had switched to the alternative threshold under the Hong Kong bourse’s listing rules. That “allows greater flexibility for the group in conducting transactions for capital management purposes in the future,” the firm added. Sands China further noted: “The company will continue to monitor its public float levels and comply with the relevant disclosure requirements… as appropriate.” As of the last practicable date, VVDI II held just over 6.07 billion shares in Sands China, and public shareholders just over 2.02 billion. That took the total number of shares issued to just above 8.09 billion. The Tuesday filing said the circumstances of Sands China going slightly below the initial prescribed float threshold was that it had been informed on Tuesday that VVDI II had that day purchased just over 1.62 million Sands China shares on the open market.