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Tuesday October 10, 9:59 PM
Australia's Packer in tie-up as Singapore casino bids closeAustralia's Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd (PBL), already a major player in the gaming industry, joined forces with Las Vegas firm Eighth Wonder in a surprise joint bid for Singapore's second casino licence. They said they would invest 3.5 billion US dollars in the project, slightly more than rival Genting International which vowed to spend 3.1 billion dollars.
"Yes, he is" an equity partner, said Advent who was accompanied by James Packer, chairman of the Australian media and gaming group. They were the first of three groups making submissions to the Singapore government Tuesday before bids closed. The winner will be announced by the end of the year. The team from Genting International-Star Cruises, part of Malaysian casino operator Genting Group, said it wanted to develop "Asia's most mesmerizing family resort" which would be called "Resorts World at Sentosa". It would include six hotels and a one-billion US dollar Universal Studios theme park that would hold a soft opening at the end of 2009 with a goal of attracting 10 million visitors by 2015, Genting International said in a statement. "Through the pan-regional presence of Star Cruises, our resort will also benefit regional tourism as it will create a sustained spillover of visitors to the neighbouring destinations," Genting said. The other contender for the project is Kerzner International and its Singapore partner CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's biggest property group. Packer's PBL and Hong Kong's Melco, who work together in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau, had expressed an interest in Singapore's first casino licence at the waterfront Marina Bay site but in January withdrew because of what they said was the high cost. "I think they are a world-class operator and certainly have one of the most formidable brands in Southeast Asia with the Crown," Advent told reporters, referring to PBL's casino in Melbourne. He said the Singapore project would also be named "Crown Casino". Analysts said Genting still has the edge. "Based on the public information that we have, the Genting one appears to be the best of the lot. But the problem is we really don't know what the others are offering," said Winston Liew, of OCBC Investment Research. Steven Tan, Malaysia-based analyst with CIMB-GK, said his bet was still on Genting. CIMB-GK has said the Kerzner team also stands a decent chance. Kerzner is developer, owner and operator of Atlantis, Paradise Island, a 2,317-room island resort and casino complex in the Bahamas. Kerzner is currently extending the Atlantis brand to Dubai. Tobin Prior, president of Kerzner's international division, told reporters his team plans "a unique integrated family resort that we hope will be a must-see destination for the region." Liew Mun Leong, president and chief executive officer of CapitaLand Group, said they filed "a bold proposal" with the help of prize-winning architect Frank Gehry, designer of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Kerzner did not say how much it will invest. The Sentosa bids will be judged largely according to their tourism appeal, followed by architectural design, level of investment and the strength of the bidders, the tourism board said. Singapore last year ended a ban on casino gambling and announced plans for two "resorts" that would include hotels and other features as well as gaming areas. In May the government awarded Las Vegas Sands a licence to run the Marina Bay development. Sands, which already has operations in Macau, says it will invest more than five billion Singapore dollars (3.1 billion US) in the Marina Bay project to open in 2009.
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