Beckham eyes Asia for resort developement

David Beckham announced in Macao on Nov 22 a partnership between his company, Beckham Ventures, and global resort developer Las Vegas Sands. With his glittering playing career behind him, Beckham emphasized that he will focus on business and charity.

The partnership, which unites one of Asia's most dynamic businesses with a global star that enjoys unrivalled popularity across the region, will be based around the development of dining, retail and leisure concepts at Sands China Ltd properties in Macao and Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.

"I'm extremely excited," Beckham said at a media conference in Macao.

"My business started a few years ago, but my focus was on playing (football) at that time. Now I'm becoming more of a businessman."

He also said leadership, teamwork and hard work are important in sport, and the same applies to business.

"The Sands team has created amazing resorts in Singapore and Macao," Beckham said.

"The scale, vision and caliber in all that they do are impressive. I am very excited to be working with them to develop a range of new business ideas in a part of the world that I love spending time in and is full of optimism and growth."

The excitement over the partnership is obviously mutual. Michael Leven, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands Corp, said he believed the partnership with Beckham will help the company grow and sustain its iconic global brands.

"We have billions of dollars invested in our own global, iconic brands and we clearly understand the importance of growing and sustaining those brands over time," Leven said.

"We are very excited about the partnership and we fully expect it to grow in the years to come, especially as we aggressively explore opportunities to further expand our presence in Asia."

At the media event, Beckham also had his handprints and signature imprinted and engraved for posterity at the resort.