Wire ASIA & OCEANIA
Crown Retains Melbourne Licence
Australia’s Crown Resorts has held onto its licence to operate in Melbourne despite being slammed for being ‘illegal, dishonest, unethical and exploitative.’
A Special manager is to be appointed to oversee and control Crown Melbourne’s affairs for a period of two years.
AUSTRALIA LAND-BASED
AUSTRALIA – Australian slot giant Aristocrat Leisure is to buy gaming software supplier Playtech for £2.1bn ($2.89bn), providing it with new growth areas including real money online gaming.
Playtech has agreed to the deal with Aristocrat confirming Playtech’s board and its largest shareholder, who owned about 21 per cent of the company, had backed its offer.
Aristocrat Chief Executive Officer, Trevor Croker, said: “The business will be ideally positioned to unlock sustainable shareholder value by seizing opportunities in the fast-growing global online RMG segment as they continue to open up, particularly in North America.”
AUSTRALIA – SIS has made a significant investment in RACELAB GLOBAL. The Australian supplier’s proprietary technologies enhance international wagering businesses by delivering wagering products, including live PRO FORM informatics alongside its ODDS ENGINE technology suite that generates real-time, accurate fixed odds pricing.
RACELAB has developed a quantitative modelling platform that accurately measures runner performance using a globally standardised format for all racing codes which is then applied with all relevant upcoming race statistics to generate betting prices.
Richard Ames, SIS CEO and new Chair of RACELAB, said: “Our investment in RACELAB gives us instant access to a complementary suite of fantastic next generation technology products and services which will benefit all our current customers and will appeal to a good many more.
“SIS’ international and digital presence has been growing steadily in the last few years and this partnership will allow us to kick on further and faster, adding a range of market leading products across our full portfolio of international horse and greyhound racing. The customer relationships built up by the RACELAB team complement many of the relationships that have been worked on by SIS over the last few years.”
AUSTRALIA – Australian betting giant, Tabcorp, saw an eight per cent increase in its annual revenues, taking it to $5.68bn as it ‘managed the ongoing disruption’ and prepared for a demerger of its lotteries and keno business which is ‘expected to realise significant value.’ The Lotteries and Keno business generated $3.20bn, marking a 10 per cent increase on last year’s figures.EBITDA came in at $1.1bn, up 11 per cent on the prior corresponding period, and net profit after tax (NPAT) was $269m.
P22 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS
Australia’s Crown Resorts has managed to hold onto its licence to operate its casino in Melbourne despite a royal commission slamming the company for being ‘illegal, dishonest, unethical and exploitative.’ Having detailed a ‘litany of failings’ by Crown including the fact it had ‘facilitated money laundering,’ Commissioner, Ray Finkelstein, said a special manager should be instructed to supervise management of the casino for two years. He also highlighted ‘a deliberate lack of cooperation and candour on the part of Crown Melbourne and its senior executives.’
Mr. Finkelstein said: “Many senior executives involved in the misconduct were indifferent to their ethical, moral and sometimes legal obligations” and lawyers who knew Crown wanted to engage in conduct that contravened some laws “failed to counsel Crown Melbourne not to go ahead. Tere is real risk of significant harm to the Victorian economy and to innocent third-parties if Crown Melbourne’s licence were immediately cancelled.
“Crown Melbourne has the will and the capacity to reform itself so that it again
GLI playing critical role in digital development of Asian market
Macau
Digital gaming is growing and evolving throughout Asia- Pacific and Europe, fueled by a rapid rise in consumer demand and innovation from APAC-based developers.
“Tere has been a noticeable rise in the demand of compliance-based consultation services by sports and event wagering developers in Asia. GLI Asia has been privileged to serve many companies, and our team of global professionals are proud to support current and future clients by providing strategic consultation on regulated markets, technologies, compliance strategies, and end-to-end testing,” said Marina Wong, General Manager of GLI Asia. Specifically, GLI has provided
becomes a suitable person to hold a casino licence and can remove the stain on its reputation. A Special Manager should be appointed to oversee and control its affairs for a period of two years. At the end of that period, the regulator should determine whether it is clearly satisfied that Crown Melbourne has become a suitable person to hold its casino licence and that it is in the public interest for it to do so.”
Crown stated: “Crown is currently reviewing the Report and the Victorian Government’s response. Crown will work cooperatively and constructively with the Victorian Government in relation to the findings and recommendations of the Report and their response.”
Te Commissioner also wants James Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings to reduce its stake of 37 per cent to less than five per cent within three years saying it ‘abused its position as a dominant shareholder, which included retaining control over the affairs of the company, even after he resigned in 2018.’ Although Crown ceased operating junkets in May, Mr. Finkelstein said they should be banned forever.
a range of services for esports evaluations, game and platform evaluations against both the “GLI-19 Interactive Gaming” and “GLI-33 Event Wagering Systems” standards, and live dealer platforms. Te spectrum of GLI’s digital and iGaming services speaks to the growth on digital gaming in the region that GLI is supporting.
“GLI has been working hard to support existing clients, as well as start-up developers in the APAC region, as the demand for digital gaming continues to grow,” said Ian Hughes, CCO, GLI.
“While digital gaming may be new to some, GLI has been working in this space for more than 30 years. We are thrilled by the opportunity to assist with exciting new products and plans to enter existing and emerging jurisdictions, sharing insights into the future that help our partners successfully navigate these digital waters.”
Australia
Australia’s Lasseters Hotel Casino in Alice Springs will be redeveloped to the tune of A$100m (US$75m) with new owners Iris Capital promising a new hotel, a revamp of the gaming floor and an upgrade to the Alice Springs Convention Centre. CEO Sam Arnaout said: “We are well advanced in discussions with the Northern Territory Government in relation to recapitalising the asset. Our master plan for Lasseters incorporates a new hotel offering within a fully integrated resort and includes a repositioned casino floor with significantly expanded F&B offerings. Te investment is aimed at capturing pent-up demand for new domestic tourism destinations, as well as the international travel market, while also capitalising on the mining industry’s connection to the region.” Iris Capital bought the property in April for A$105m after 24 years of ownership by Lasseters International.
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