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The
Business Times, 13 May 04
Lasseters wins MAS go-ahead for share offer
Australian casino outfit sells shares for Sesdaq listing
by Kenneth Lim
IN the clearest sign of its readiness to accept companies from new
and different industries, the Monetary Authority of Singapore yesterday
gave the green light to investors betting on Singapore's first casino
initial public offering.
Australia-based Lasseters International Holdings launches its invitation
of 45 million new shares today in a bid for a Sesdaq listing. Comprising
2 million public offer shares and 43 million placement shares, the
offer is priced at 23.5 cents apiece or 10.63 times its net profit
of A$2.4 million (S$2.86 million) for the year ended June 2003.
The IPO comes 42 days after the company first lodged a preliminary
prospectus with the regulator, a longer process time than all but
one of the 26 companies already listed on the Singapore Exchange this
year.
Lead manager HL Bank's investment banking head Khong Choun Mun said
the regulators were understandably more cautious with a foreign company
in an industry not familiar to Singaporeans.
But he also said that the company had a scare last year when MAS turned
down the IPO application of Cambodian casino operator NagaCorp. 'We
thought it was the industry they didn't approve of,' he said. But
when it was learned that the concerns about NagaCorp were more with
concerns over safeguards to prevent money laundering, Mr Khong said
it became apparent that the authorities were more concerned about
the strength of the regulations governing the company.
That Lasseters has gotten the final go-ahead for listing is a sign
of a more open mindset here, Mr Khong said. Helping Lasseters satisfy
the regulators' questions was its base of operations in Australia,
which is a member of the 33-member Financial Action Task Force, an
inter-governmental body working against money laundering and terrorist
financing.
Lasseters hopes to raise A$6.8 million in net proceeds, of which A$3
million will be used to repay loans to Westpac Banking Corp and the
National Bank of Australia. Another A$3.8 million will be used as
working capital, including expansion through mergers and acquisitions.
Lasseters runs a casino in Alice Springs and another four gaming centres
in Adelaide. Gaming revenue totalled A$31.3 million in FY2003, about
54.4 per cent of total revenue that year. The rest of the group's
income comes from a convention centre near its casino, accommodation,
food and beverages and drive-through liquor shops. Lasseters says
it has a monopoly in the southern part of the Northern Territories,
while a freeze in licensing in Adelaide has closed the business to
new entrants. It said it may consider acquiring existing centres there
through cash or equity deals.
Mr Khong said he has received strong interest for the shares from
fund managers and 'high net worth individuals'. Lasseters' IPO closes
on May 20, and trading is expected to start on May 24. |
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