Gaming | James Packer sells down Macau stake

Lawrence Ho (left) speaks as James Packer listens during a October 2015 news conference at the Studio City casino resort

Melco Crown Entertainment (MCE) announced yesterday that it had entered into a share repurchase agreement with Crown Asia Investments (CAI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crown Resorts Limited (Crown), pursuant to which it will repurchase 155,000,000 ordinary shares from CAI. The aggregate purchase price is USD800.84 million, representing a price of USD5.1667 per share.
The repurchase operation means that the equity interests of Melco and public shareholders in MCE will be increased to approximately 37.9 percent and 34.7 percent respectively, while CAI’s equity interest in MCE will be reduced from 34.3 percent to approximately 27.4 percent.
With the repurchase, Melco will become the single largest shareholder of MCE. According to a press release, Lawrence Ho will be “re-designated” as chairman, and will continue to be the executive director and chief executive officer of MCE. James Packer, executive chairman of Crown Limited, should resign from his position as MCE’s co-chairman.
“The transaction will meaningfully strengthen Melco’s financial position through incorporating MCE’s full financial contributions into the group’s portfolio as an accounting subsidiary. It demonstrates Melco’s positive outlook for Macau’s long term future. It will also enhance the group’s overall portfolio of high-quality assets and facilitate our efforts in realizing Melco’s global expansion vision,” Lawrence Ho said.
In yesterday’s press release, Melco also announced that together with other members of a multinational consortium (Hard Rock International and Cyprus Phasouri [Zakaki] Limited), in mid-March this year it was shortlisted to the next phase of the casino tender process in the Republic of Cyprus.
“The Cyprus premium integrated resort project, along with the Group’s latest business development in Spain, showcase Melco’s focus on further strengthening the group’s presence in overseas markets to build a company based on sustainable growth,” the press release stated.