By Kennix Chim

HONG KONG, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Sands China Ltd, the Macau operation of Las Vegas Sands, raised $2.5 billion through its initial public offering in Hong Kong, a source familiar with the deal said on Saturday, hitting the bottom of an indicated range.

While lower than the company hoped for, the IPO allows Las Vegas Sands to cash in on the gambling industry boom in Macau, a former Portuguese colony an hour's ferry ride from Hong Kong that is now the world's largest gaming hub.

The offering, together with a $1.75 billion in bank financing, would help Sands China to restart its Macau's Cotai strip project, which was suspended in November 2008 due to the global economic downturn.

The Las Vegas-based gaming and casino company, struggling under a heavy debt load, is looking to raise cash and boost the group's overall valuation by listing its Macau division in Hong Kong's red hot IPO market.

Wynn Resorts, another Las Vegas casino group, recently spun off its own Macau unit.

Sands China sold 1.87 billion shares, or about 24 percent of its enlarged share capital, at HK$10.38 each, compared with a range of HK$10.38 to HK$13.88, the source said.

The source was not authorised to speak on the record about the pricing.

'Investors are cautious investing in Sands China, because the post-market performance of Wynn Macau was disappointing,' said Peter Pak, vice president at BOCI Research Ltd. Shares of Wynn Macau, which raised $1.87 billion through its Hong Kong IPO this month, is trading 7 percent lower than its offering price of HK$10.08.

On a 2010 enterprise value to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation ratio (EV/EBITDA), Sands China trades at 13.5 times based on its low end price range, versus Wynn Macau's about 14 times.

By comparison, Melco Crown Entertainment and Galaxy Entertainment Group traded at 11.5 times and 12.1 times, respectively, according to a UBS research report.

Sands China, founded by billionaire Sheldon Adelson, could be valued at $10.8 billion based on the low-end of its price range. By comparison, Wynn Macau has a market value of $6.3 billion.

Sands was the first U.S. casino operator to enter Macau in 2004 after the government opened the gambling market to outsiders.

Sands China owns Venetian Macau Ltd, one of the six concessionaries that are permitted to own and operate casinos in Macau, with 24 percent and 25 percent market shares of gross gaming revenues in Macau in 2008 and the first half of 2009.

The firm operates three properties, including Sands Macao, Venetian Macao and the Plaza, and plans to complete the development of a fourth property, a 6,000 hotel room resort that will feature the Shangri-la and Sheraton hotels.

Sands' next phase expansion is the integrated resort of Parcels 5 and 6 in Cotai, in which the company expects the total cost to complete the constructions into three phrases could be $2.6 billion.

Of the offered shares, 600 million are existing shares and the remaining are new shares. Sands China's trading debut is set for Nov. 30, under the symbol '1928'.

Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are the joint global coordinators for the offer. The banks also are

bookrunners for the deal, along with BNP Paribas,Barclays and UBS.

(US$1=HK$7.75)

(Reporting by Kennix Chim, editing by Michael Flaherty and Carol Bishopric) ((If you have a query or comment on this story, send an email to news.feedback.asia@thomsonreuters.com) (US$1=HK$7.75) Keywords: SANDSCHINA IPO/

(kennix.chim@thomsonreuters.com; +852 2843 6313; Reuters Messaging: kennix.chim.reuters.com@reuters.net)

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