Australia's PBL shrugs off Unitab bid talk

MACAU - PBL Ltd dashed market speculation it will submit a rival bid for second-largest Australian wagering group, UNiTAB Ltd. , which has agreed to a takeover by Tattersall's Ltd.

Australia's top lottery operator launched a A$1.9 billion ($1.35 ($2.24 billion) bid for UNiTAB in March, hoping to take on rival Tabcorp Ltd and tap growth overseas.

Analysts have said the proposed tie-up put UNiTAB in the spotlight, with Tabcorp most likely to make a counter offer, speculating that casino operators such as Packer family-owned PBL and New Zealand's Sky City were also potential bidders.

The deal follows a period of rapid consolidation in the gaming industry in the past few years after smoking bans, higher gaming taxes and slot machine quotas curbed growth in a country with the world's highest rate of gambling.

"No. We don't say anything categorically but it's not on our radar screen. We're not in the wagering business anywhere in the world. We're in the casino business," John Alexander, chief executive officer and MD of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, told Reuters in Macau.

Alexander was in Macau to commemorate the groundbreaking of a casino venture between media and gaming firm PBL and Hong Kong-listed Melco International Development Ltd.

- REUTERS