Melco Crown To List In Hong Kong

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Melco Crown To List In Hong Kong...

James Packer's Macau casino joint venture Melco Crown Entertainment plans to list its shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to improve liquidity and raise equity to help fund a new $US2.5 billion ($2.38bn) casino resort development.

Melco Crown chief executive Lawrence Ho said the proposed dual listing -- the stock is already listed on Nasdaq -- would give Oriental investors a more direct access to the stock and put Melco on a par with other Macau casino operators that all have Hong Kong listings.

"We believe our proposed dual listing on the local bourse will not only put us on par with our competitors but will also provide our existing shareholders with much enhanced liquidity, while providing us with access to an additional source of capital," Mr Ho said in a statement.

It is widely believed Melco Crown wants to proceed with the issue before the end of the year.

The move is likely to include an equity raising rather than simply a compliance listing, although analysts expect the raising to be small given they expect neither joint venture partner will want to be diluted in the issue.

Packer's Crown owns a 33.5% stake in Melco. The equity will help fund the development of Macau Studio City, a $US2.5bn integrated gaming, retail and entertainment resort to be developed in Macau, although much of the project is expected to be debt-funded.

It will be Melco Crown's third casino in Macau, although the joint-venture partners must first negotiate with local authorities to ensure a casino is included in the project plans. The current government-approved plans do not contain any gaming elements.

Citi said a dual listing would allow Melco Crown to join key benchmark indices and improve liquidity.

Macau's gaming regulator has revealed that July gross gaming revenue was $US3bn, the second-best month this year.

However, Melco shares have fallen sharply. They opened at $US16 last Monday but closed at $US12.94 in Thursday trading on the Nasdaq, down 13.15% on the day. The shares rose 21% last month.

Readers...er, punters, please bet with your head, not over it, and have fun.

*the writer owns shares in Crown Limited

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