Wire ASIA & OCEANIA
Oaktree Branches out with Crown bid
Investment firm Oaktree intends to acquire James Packer’s stake in Crown Resorts, providing a new avenue for the Australian casino operator.
Investment firm Oaktree has stated its intention to buy James Packer’s stake in Crown Resorts, providing a new avenue for the Australian casino operator as it explores how it could be granted its Sydney gaming licence.
Crown said it had received a 'non-binding and indicative' proposal from Oaktree Investments to fund a buy back of shares owned by the billionaire’s private company Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH).
Crown said: “Crown Resorts has received an unsolicited, preliminary, non-binding and indicative proposal from a company on behalf of funds managed and advised by Oaktree Capital Management, to provide a funding commitment of up to A$3.0bn to Crown via a structured instrument with the proceeds to be used by Crown to buy-back some or all of the Crown shares which are held by Consolidated Press Holdings on a selective basis. CPH currently has a shareholding of ~37 per cent in Crown.”
Any selective buy-back of Crown shares held by CPH would be subject to Crown shareholder approval (with no votes being cast in favour of the resolution by CPH or its associates).
"Te Crown Board has not yet formed a view on the merits of the Oaktree Proposal,” the company added. "It will now commence a process to assess the Oaktree Proposal. Crown shareholders do not need to take any action in relation to the Oaktree Proposal at this stage. Tere is no certainty that the Oaktree Proposal will result in a transaction."
Two of the damning conclusions from the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority inquiry were that Mr Packer was not a suitable person to be associated with the casino and that his influence would hold back Crown's ability to be approved to open the casino at its $2.2bn Barangaroo casino. Nathan Bell, Portfolio Manager of Intelligent Investor, which owns a stake in Crown, said there was 'no reason Crown couldn't copy the [Blackstone] strategy and do it themselves.'
Angus Gluskie, Managing Director of White Funds Management, which has also owns Crown shares, added: "Tere is obviously a reason Oaktree doesn't want some element of the business or wants to receive some uplift in the return that accrues to them, above and beyond the return of a normal shareholder."
Cambodia Won Majestic Casino to open early next year
Malaysian-born WA Hospitality will be taking its first steps into the Sihanoukville casino market in Cambodia with the opening of the Won Majestic Casino Hotel & Resort Cambodia in the first quarter of 2022.
Located close to the idyllic Sokha beach, the casino resort will feature a five-Star Hotel Tower with luxury suites and studio rooms, a swimming pool, gym, three restaurants, guest lounge and a 27,000sq.ft casino.
Towering over 28 storeys, the 120m high building offers customers views from the sky bar overlooking Sokha, Independence, Ratanak & Ochheuteal beach. It is located minutes away from the busy
Golden Lions Roundabout, eateries and entertainment venues. Te development will also house 313 Grade A Offices coupled with online bookmaking licenses, 270 units of luxury services apartments, and retail outlets.
WA Hospitality’s Executive Director, Ally Bhoonee, added: “It is not your typical casino hotel as this one will be right next to the beach and it will be an upscale, five-star property. Te hotel concept is to provide entertainment and excellent personalised service. Won Majestic is confident of delivering quality environment friendly architecture, lush interior and most importantly a development build with pride, passion and perfection.”
Malaysia
A recent rise in COVID-19 cases in Malaysia has seen Maybank Research analyst Samuel Yin Shao Yang slash his own estimates for Genting Malaysia predicting an operating loss of US$84.6m in 2021. He has slashed 2022 profit guidance by 17 per cent to US$249.9m and 2023 estimate by four per cent to US$308.2m. He said: “History suggests that Genting Malaysia’s share price will rally pre- opening of Genting SkyWorlds. We believe that Resorts World New York City (RWNYC) is well positioned to be awarded a lucrative downstate commercial casino license. We opine that 49 per cent-owned Empire Resorts will be less burdensome going forward. We gather that the Mashpee Wampanoag promissory notes may be written back.”
SOUTH KOREA – Interblock has placed a 64-seat Diamond Stadium environment at Kangwon Land Casino in South Korea, the country’s largest casino and only Korean casino that currently grants admission to both Koreans and foreign
visitors.This is the company’s first product placement in Kangwon Land Casino following a successful bid to place an ETG Stadium on its casino floor.
“We are thrilled to have been given the opportunity to showcase our premium dealer-assisted Stadium products within Korea’s flagship casino. In collaboration with our trusted partners at Korea Gaming Solution (KGS), the Stadium implementation project, installed before the end of 2020, was executed on time and to Kangwon Land's specifications. We wish Kangwon Land Casino and KGS great success in 2021 and beyond," commented Interblock’s President for Asia Pacific, Michael Hu.
"Interblock's ETG is a system that has accumulated abundant experience and know-how, and is expected to provide better convenience and interesting games to customers by providing an excellent, stable, server-less offering and various attractive functionalities," stated Kangwon Land Casino, Project Manager.
Interblock’s successful bid to supply the ETG Stadium consisted of 64 Diamond play stations with multi-game, multi-denomination, and multi- lingual support, including Korean and Japanese, two live dealer assist tables, including Baccarat and Multi-Hand Blackjack, which allows guest to play up to three hands at a time, large LED display panels displaying trends, game history, and live gameplay, and in-depth game performance reporting tools.
MACAU – The steady rise in GGR in Macau’s casinos has seen daily revenues hit the US$37.5m per day due to increasing attendance on the mass gaming floor alongside high VIP hold. Average visitation for the week April 12 to 18 was down 64 per cent on figures from April 2019, before the pandemic, but showing a steady rise of 12 per cent from March 2021.
JP Morgan’s DS Kim, Derek Choi and Livy Lyu, said: “This reflects gradual yet consistent improvements in gambler/travel sentiment. A GGR of anywhere from US$50m to US$62.5m per day would be seen as a strong success for the May Day holiday.”
AUSTRALIA – Entain has confirmed it has upped its offer to buy Australian sports betting operator Tabcorp to AU$3.5bn. At the time of publication the Tabcorp Board had not formed a view on the merits of the proposal and will assess it in the context of the previously announced strategic review.
WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P23
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