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HONG KONG - James Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting and Melco International Development, run by billionaire Stanley Ho's son, raised US$1.14 billion ($1.65 billion) - more than they originally sought - for a hotel casino in Macau.
Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau) sold 60.3 million American depositary shares for US$19 each, the venture told the Australian Stock Exchange yesterday. The price was higher than the Hong Kong-based company's forecast range of US$16 to US$18.
The venture plans to invest US$3.31 billion in five years in three properties in Macau, which in the third quarter overtook the Las Vegas Strip as the world's largest gambling centre by revenue. Since Stanley Ho's four-decade monopoly in Macau, the only city in China where casinos are legal, ended in 2002, Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts have opened gaming rooms.
Stock in Melco International Development, run by Lawrence Ho, has risen 29 per cent since October 25, the day before the company announced it received regulatory approval to list the venture.
Lawrence Ho is the eldest son among Stanley Ho's 17 children. Melco PBL shares begin trading on the Nasdaq stock market today.
The venture said it will use about US$514 million to repay, with interest, a US$500 million loan used to buy a Macau licence from US casino mogul Steve Wynn. It purchased the licence for US$900 million in March.
The venture said it's scheduled to open the US$512.6 million, 220-gaming table Crown Macau casino in the second quarter of 2007.
The venture has started work on the 2000-room, 450-table City of Dreams, scheduled for completion in phases starting in late 2008 at a total cost of US$2.1 billion.
It is also buying a third site, by the water on the Macau peninsula near the ferry terminal, for a casino and apartment complex costing as much as US$700 million. Melco PBL said it expects to open the project in mid-2009 should it succeed in completing the land purchase.
The company also expects to operate the casino at Macau Studio City, a retail and entertainment complex scheduled to open in 2009.
- BLOOMBERG
