Las Vegas Sands shares up as Hong Kong offer range set

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Shares of Las Vegas Sands Corp <LVS.N> rose 7 percent on Monday after the casino operator said it would look to raise up to $3.35 billion through an initial public offering of shares in its Macau business.

The IPO of the Macau assets "does give the company much needed extra liquidity and flexibility, so it is a positive development for Las Vegas Sands and a positive sign for the industry in general that they are able to tap that market," said Matthew Jacob, an analyst with Majestic Research.

Las Vegas Sands said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that the offering price for the 1.87 billion shares of Sands China Ltd. was expected to be between $1.34 a share and $1.79 a share.

Nevada-based Las Vegas Sands is seeking to list its Macau division on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to boost the value of its overall business. The gaming and casino company has struggled with a heavy debt load, and is looking to seize on an opportunity to have a publicly traded division in Hong Kong at a time when the IPO window is open.

Rival Las Vegas gaming company Wynn Resorts <WYNN.O> listed its Macau unit last month, raising $1.87 billion.

Shares of Wynn were up 4.4 percent to $62.35 in late morning trade on Monday after it declared a special dividend of $4 a common share and said its board has approved the start of a regular dividend program beginning next year.

Wynn said the special dividend would be payable on December 3 to shareholders of record on November 19. It added that it expects a regular dividend of 20 cents a common share for the first quarter of 2010 that will be payable in the second quarter of next year.

Shares of Las Vegas Sands were up $1.08, or 7 percent, to $16.43. Sands shares have more than doubled this year, while Wynn Resorts has risen about 48 percent.

(Reporting by Karen Jacobs; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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