Macau casino company debuts on HK bourse

The colorful, 86-year-old billionaire hailed the listing of Sociedade de Jogos de Macau, or SJM, as a triumph for his city and reached out to his U.S. rivals.

"It marks a new milestone for the company and Macau," Ho said during a ceremony at the Hong Kong bourse that he attended with one of the three women he calls his wives.

"This big cake of Macau is sufficient to be shared by the six gaming operators. There's no need to fight," he said.

The company's initial public offering and listing were postponed several times in recent years amid lawsuits and weakening market conditions.

Most recently it had been scheduled to debut last week. That was pushed back again because of last-minute legal challenges from his sister. The legal action spooked investors, and half of the offering's retail buyers withdrew before Wednesday's debut.

"Everybody knows our progress to listing wasn't smooth, but we successfully jump over the obstacles and turn every challenge into opportunities," Ho said.

In the initial public offering that began at the end of June, SJM sold a 25 percent stake, or 1.25 billion shares, raising nearly $500 million the company says will largely go toward developing new properties in Macau.

The listing price, on the bottom of the indicative range at HK$3.08, dropped about 1.3 percent Wednesday to close at HK$3.04.

Ho--worth more than $9 billion according to Forbes magazine--faces long odds.