Melco, Partners Will Inject Lottery Assets Into Wafer Systems

2007-10-22 00:51 (New York)

By Kelvin Wong

Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Melco International Development Ltd., the investor in Macau casinos and gaming technology, and two partners will inject HK$668 million ($86 million) of lottery assets into Hong Kong's Wafer Systems Ltd.

The group, comprised of Melco, Taiwan-listed Firich Enterprises Co. and Singapore-listed Lott Vision Ltd., will inject its Asian lottery business into Wafer Systems, a Hong Kong-listed company, Melco said in a statement to the city's stock exchange yesterday. Wafer will pay for the assets with new shares and convertible bonds.

After the transaction, the three companies will collectively hold 19.5 percent of Wafer Systems, the statement said. Melco will own 55 percent of that stake, Firich 27 percent and Lott Vision 18 percent, it said.

Wafer Systems, suspended since Oct. 8, soared as much as 39 percent on resuming trade today after announcing the deal, which will give it control of companies that make and sell lottery machines in China, South Korea and India. The stock traded atHK$2, up 21 percent, at the 12:30 p.m. lunch break in Hong Kong.

Melco, controlled by Macau gaming magnate Stanley Ho's son Lawrence Ho, had its biggest drop in more than seven months inHong Kong trading today. The shares fell 7.9 percent to HK$14.26, after falling as much as 9.4 percent earlier.

--Editor: Fellman (frl)

To contact the reporter for this story:Kelvin Wong in Hong Kong at +852-2977-6441 or kwong40@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:Tom Kohn at +852-2977-6610 or tkohn@bloomberg.net

Melco PBL Entertainment Plans to Offer Shares in U.S. (Update 1)

2007-10-18 14:27 (New York)

By Charles W. Stevens

Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau)
Ltd., a casino venture between Lawrence Ho and Australian
billionaire James Packer, plans to raise as much as $800 million
in an offering of American depositary shares.

Proceeds from the sale will be used for its Macau Peninsula
project, the Hong Kong-based company said today in a Securities
and Exchange Commission filing.

Each share will represent three ordinary shares and trade
on the Nasdaq Global Market, Melco said.

Melco operates the Crown Macau Hotel Casino.

--Editor: Stevens (cmm)

To contact the reporter on this story:
Charles W. Stevens in New York +1-212-617-2652 or
cstevens@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Nol at +1-212-617-2384 or mnol@bloomberg.net.

Melco Rises in Hong Kong After Deutsche Bank Lifts Target Price

2007-10-16 03:22 (New York)

By Kelvin Wong

Oct. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Melco International Development Ltd., run by Macau gambling billionaire Stanley Ho's son Lawrence, rose in Hong Kong trading after Deutsche Bank raised its target price.

The shares jumped 4.3 percent to HK$15.96 at 3 p.m., bringing their gain in the past two days to 7.8 percent. Deutsche Bank Hong Kong-based analyst Karen Tang raised her target price on Melco by 20 percent to HK$18 in a report released yesterday.

Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau) Ltd., Melco's venture with James Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd., is building three casinos in the Chinese city over a five-year period, including the Crown Macau, which opened in May.

Crown Macau will benefit from ``the emergence of VIP junket'' operators, including AMA International Ltd., Tang wrote in yesterday's report.

``AMA believes it can channel mostof its junkets' VIP business to one casino. We believe this is Crown.''

AMA, 80 percent-owned by Hong Kong-listed A-Max HoldingsLtd., controls 10 Macau gaming junket operators.

Junket operators bring gamblers to casinos and earn commissions based on the amount they gamble.

Gaming operators are expanding in Macau, the only Chinese city where casinos are legal. The city surpassed the Las Vegas Strip as the world's biggest casino center with $6.9 billion in gambling revenue last year.

Melco, owner of 41.4 percent of Nasdaq-listed Melco PBL, also invests in gaming technology and slot machines. Its stock has dropped 13 percent this year, compared with the 48 percent increase in the benchmark Hang Seng Index.

--Editor: Fellman (fjm)

To contact the reporter for this story:Kelvin Wong in Hong Kong at +852-2977-6441 orkwong40@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story:Tom Kohn in Hong Kong at +852-2977-6610 or tkohn@bloomberg.net