Pansy Ho’s Estoril Sol is expected to compete for the renewal of its Póvoa de Varzim casino concession, as the Portuguese government launched a public tender last week for casino licenses worth millions of euros across three regions.
Póvoa de Varzim is a city in northern Portugal and part of the Greater Porto sub-region. Porto is the country’s second-largest city.
The Portuguese government has opened public tenders for casino concessions in Espinho, Póvoa de Varzim, and the Algarve. The new licenses will be valid for 15 years, with applications due by September 5th, 2025. The current contracts, originally set to expire in 2023, were extended until the end of 2025 to compensate for losses caused by casino closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Estoril Sol, chaired by Macau gaming magnate Pansy Ho and controlled by the Ho family, currently operates the Póvoa de Varzim casino through a subsidiary.
According to Macau public broadcaster TDM, which cited industry sources familiar with the gaming sector, the company is expected to bid for the license renewal, given the profitability of the Póvoa operation as reflected in its recent financial results.
The tender notice, published in the Official Journal of the European Union, covers five casino licenses across the three gaming zones. In the Algarve, three licenses are available, while Espinho and Póvoa de Varzim each have one.
The Ho family’s casino interests in Portugal also include Casino de Lisboa in Lisbon and Casino do Estoril in Cascais.
Pansy Ho, daughter of the late Stanley Ho, serves as chairman of Estoril Sol and co-chairman of MGM China, among other gaming ventures.
