The Venetian Las Vegas is doing so well under Apollo Global Management that the Nevada Gaming Commission Thursday signed off on the private owner distributing $550 million in cash to its investors. Also on Thursday, the company unveiled a renovation to its convention center that hosts the upcoming Global Gaming Expo.
Venetian CFO Robert Brimmer said the Venetian has enjoyed a “remarkable financial performance” over the last two-plus years of Apollo ownership. Apollo acquired the Venetian from Las Vegas Sands Corp. in February 2022.
In 2023, the Venetian grew the business by double digits and that trend has continued in the first half of 2024, Brimmer said. “We’re exceeding expectations in growing year over year. The broad trends in the Vegas market remain very strong. There was broad top-line second-quarter growth across all competitors.”
Brimmer said the Venetian is “gaining market share and growing at faster rates than our competitors. We’re executing the strategy we shared previously with the Gaming Control Board and Commission. A lot of this strategy is based on capital investments, which have been well received by guests, along with investments in our team members.”
Brimmer said a key has been building culture and a sense of ownership among employees who have more empowerment. The Venetian’s service scores are strong and trending well.
“The performance has created the cash we’re looking to distribute,” Brimmer said. “As of the end of July, the business had $830 million of cash on hand, the source of this distribution.”
That will leave $280 million in cash, in addition to operating cash flow over the next 18 months, sufficient to complete capital and employee reinvestments. Brimmer said they’re being conservative and resilient in their financial approach and debt ratio, compared to the marketplace.
“I also looked at sensitizing the business. If the positive revenue growth slows down, is zero, or goes negative, will our capital structure and the liquidity already committed be sufficient to deal with revenue slowdowns equal to what we experienced in the Great Financial Crisis of 2008 and to meet all of our investment plans?”
As for investments, Brimmer said they’re creating a business that’s competitive in the long run. Since Apollo took over in February 2022, nearly $500 million has been invested into the property. And another $900 million in investment is underway. The total investment is in the range of $1.5 billion. Once the full renovation plan is completed by the end of 2025, it will be in the best condition since it opened in 1999.
“The capital investment benefits all stakeholders,” Brimmer said. “It’s good for guests; we’re trying to create new and unique experiences. It’s good for our investors and will create strong ROI on the capital we’re deploying. It’s good for our team members — we’re creating more opportunities and more jobs and more career growth.”
Apollo has added casino space in Palazzo, along with several new restaurants, the 1,000-seat venue Voltaire Parisian cabaret, and a new sportsbook and poker room.
“Later today, we’re unveiling our convention center and we’re partway through a multi-year investment. And there’s much more investment coming. The bulk of the capital is going toward restaurants and hotel rooms. Last week, we took the first rooms out of service, starting to redevelop over 4,000 hotel rooms between now and the end of 2025. We’re also investing in a theater in the Palazzo to support a new Shin Lim residency,” Brimmer said.
The Venetian has distributed $2,250 to all full-time team members under a new program, while part-time members get a pro-rata share based on hours worked.
“It’s a major and we think smart investment in trying to encourage people to think like owners,” Brimmer said. “There are major benefits in terms of retention and recruitment by having this valuable reinvestment in our team members.”
The Venetian started a program offering four weeks of parental leave with paid leave for birth, adoption, and child bonding. They’ve constructed an on-site wellness center to address physical, mental, and financial well being of employees, Brimmer said. It brought back and doubled its Venetian reimbursement program that stopped during the pandemic and opened a back-of-house Starbucks with neighborhood pricing.
Since taking the business private, Brimmer said they’ve doubled community contributions by double. Excess meals at the convention center are donated to food banks.
