July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong's High Court dismissed a lawsuit by Winnie Ho challenging the legality of the HK$3.85 billion ($493 million) initial public offering of her brother's SJM Holdings Ltd., Macau's largest casino operator.

``It is far from self-evident to me that the applicant has sufficient standing to bring this judicial review,'' said Judge A.T. Reyes today. Winnie Ho had argued that Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. and the city's Securities and Futures Commission shouldn't have approved the share sale.

SJM today delayed its trading debut to July 16 from tomorrow pending the ruling. Winnie Ho has filed at least 37 lawsuits in Macau and Hong Kong related to the group's shareholding structure and alleged debts, delaying her brother's attempt to take the company public. SJM hopes listing will allow it to raise capital more easily and help it slow the loss of market share to Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Joshua Goldman-Brown, a Hong Kong-based external spokesman hired by SJM, said the company would hold a briefing at 5:15 p.m local time to comment on the ruling.

Winnie Ho will decide whether to appeal the ruling after meeting with lawyers, said Donna Yau, her spokeswoman.

Winnie Ho, 85, helped run the company's casinos for 25 years before being fired as executive director in December 2001. She has said she still holds an 8 percent stake in the Macau-based casino operator's parent.

The parent lost its four-decade monopoly of the city's gaming market when the government awarded casino licenses to five other operators in 2002.

The company, which operates 19 of the 29 casinos in Macau, took 40 percent of Macau's gaming revenue last year, down from 75 percent in 2005, according to a June 11 report by Deutsche Bank. That share may slip to just 18 percent by 2010, the report said.

SJM's IPO came to the market as surging delinquencies in the U.S. subprime mortgage market dented demand for stocks, leading more than 160 companies to delay or call off IPOs worldwide this year. SJM was seeking as much as HK$5.1 billion.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kelvin Wong in Hong Kong at kwong40@bloomberg.net; Wendy Leung in Hong Kong at wleung12@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 9, 2008 04:39 EDT