Due to the worldwide economic crisis, Las Vegas Sands has been forced to end plans to raise 5.25 billion dollars in loans in order to continue with its expansion strategy in Macau. According to sources, the giant gaming operator decided to drop plans following the lack of interest among lenders.

Apparently, the company will hold plans until numbers look bright again and they can elaborate a new scheme with a new shape and a new amount, maybe next year. Tycoon Sheldon Adelson, head of Las Vegas Sands, recently put forward a proposal to raise 7 billion dollars, but later dropped the number to 5.25 billion, following a cold response by investors.

“It was still too large and the banks were offering to lend with only limited creditability. Any kid on the street knew they did not have the balance sheets,” a banker involved in the project commented. Some of the banks involved were Lehman Brothers, which closed last month, and Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, which have faced liquidity matters.

Las Vegas Sands intended to build a 6,400-room casino and resort in Macau, in what has been called the Cotai Strip, the Asian version of Las Vegas Strip. The project would include a Sheraton, Shangri-La, Traders and St Regis hotels and also service apartments.