Courtesy of: http://www.theaustralian.news.com
By Glenda Korporaal
JAMES Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting and its Hong Kong partner, Melco, have hired a four-bank syndicate led by ANZ to raise money for their $1.5 billion City of Dreams casino project in Macau.
The island's casino magnate, Stanley Ho, has got the go-head to launch a $2.5 billion listing of his Macau casino company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Investor response to the listing would partially measure the market for a possible listing of PBL-Melco's Macau assets on the Nasdaq in the US this year.
The news comes as Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer visits Macau today.
Austrade opened an office in Macau last year to promote business opportunities for Australian companies, in the former Portuguese colony that is pitching to become Asia's Las Vegas.
Mr Ho, who has dominated the Macau casino industry for the past 40 years, is the father of Packer's Hong Kong partner, Lawrence Ho.
Ho Sr recently stepped down as Melco chairman to clear the way for the listing of his Macau casino assets on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
But the listing was held up by a court challenge by his estranged sister, Winnie.
In Macau this week, a court declined the sister's request to block the listing of her brother's company, Sociedade de Jogos de Macau.
Ho Sr had wanted to list in April, but was delayed by legal proceedings by his sister, who owns 7.3 per cent in SJM's parent company.
Ho Sr's monopoly of the Macau gaming industry ended in 2002, when the Government awarded casino licences to Las Vegas gambling operators, including Wynn Resorts and Sheldon Adelson's Venetian group.
PBL-Melco is now buying a subconcession from Wynn, providing another competitor to Ho Sr's string of casinos in the city.
To arrange debt financing for City of Dreams, ANZ is leading a team that comprises Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America.
Hong Kong sources say the fundraising could include a mixture of bonds and loans.
To manage its US float this year, PBL-Melco has appointed UBS, Credit Suisse and Citibank.
The partners are believed to have had preliminary discussions with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, although no formal application for a listing has been made.
Work on the first PBL-Melco casino -- the six-star, 32-storey Crown Macau -- is set for completion in the first half of next year.
The City of Dreams, their second and larger joint venture, will boast four hotels in all, including a Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency, and 2000 rooms on 11ha of land on what is know as the Cotai strip in the former Portuguese colony.
It will include an ambitious 40,000sqm underwater-themed casino with more than 450 gaming tables and 3000 poker machines.
PBL and Melco recently announced plans for a third casino in Macau.
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