SJM Holdings Limited announced in a statement yesterday that its Executive Director Ambrose So Shu Fai "has informed the Board of the Company that he would retire and not offer [himself] for re-election as Executive Director of the Company at the 2023 AGM".
According to an April 27 announcement by the company, this year's Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held in Hong Kong on June 15.
Yesterday's announcement released on the website of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong also said that "upon retirement as Executive Director of the Company at the conclusion of the 2023 AGM, Dr So will cease to be Vice-Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and a member of [the] Executive Committee, Cotai Project Committee, Nomination Committee and Remuneration Committee of the Board of the Company."
The announcement also said that So will remain as a director of SJM Resorts, Limited after his retirement as a director of SJM Holdings Limited.
According to the announcement, So worked for SJM Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries for 21 years, including 16 years as executive director and CEO and five years as vice-chairman. The announcement stressed that "Dr So has confirmed that he has no disagreement with the Board...".
The announcement underlined that Executive Committee members Daisy Ho Chiu Fung (chairperson), Timothy Fok Tsun Ting, Angela Leong on Kei and David Shum Hong Kuen will continue to oversee and be responsible for the business operations of SJM Holdings Limited and its susbsidiaries.
According to the announcement, SJM Resorts is the "principal subsidiary" of Hong Kong-listed SJM Holdings Limited.
Macau-based SJM Resorts holds a 10-year gaming concession granted by the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) government last year. The concession period started on January 1, 2023.
Hong Kong and local media reported yesterday that So, 72, holds a doctorate from Australia's Southern Cross University as well as a honorary doctorate from the University of Macau (UM), started to work for STDM, the parent company of SJM Resorts, in the mid-1970s. So is Portugal's honorary consul in Hong Kong. He is a graduate of University of Hong Kong and a well-known Chinese calligrapher.
Media reports have described Hong Kong-born So as the long-time right-hand man of Macau gaming mogul Stanley Ho Hung Sun who passed away in 2020 at the age of 98.
According to its website, "SJM Holdings Limited (HKEx: 880) and its subsidiaries is a leading owner, operator and developer of casinos and integrated entertainment resorts in Macau. Our principal subsidiary SJM Resorts, S.A. (in Portuguese) SJM Resorts, Limited (in English) (formerly Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, S.A.) (“SJM”) is one of the six concessionaires in Macau, authorised by the Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region to operate casinos and gaming areas. SJM is also the only casino gaming concessionaire with its roots in Macau."
STDM was founded as Macau's then casino monopoly concessionaire in 1962. SJM Holdings Limited was founded in 2006. Macau's gaming industry was liberalised by the government in 2002.
At the end of March, SJM Resorts owned 13 of Macau's 30 casinos run by six rival concessionaires, according to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ).
Undated file photo of Ambrose So Shu Fai. – Photo courtesy of HKU Space
