Slattery betting on Macau casinos

One More Thing:Irish businessman Dómhnall Slattery has taken a punt on the leisure and gambling market in Macau in China.

Claret Capital, Slattery's private equity vehicle, was a "meaningful" backer recently in a consortium led by Merrill Lynch that paid more than $350 million (€257 million) to buy a stake in a company that owns Macau Landmark and Macau Fisherman's Wharf.

The vast complexes include a five-star hotel, a convention centre, plenty of retail and restaurants and, more importantly, themed casinos.

The Chinese love to gamble and Macau is on a par with Las Vegas in terms of gaming revenues. With latest figures showing that $2.25 billion (€1.65 billion) was spent in the first quarter of this year, a rise of 44 per cent on the same period in 2006, it looks a decent bet.