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Crown
Limited
Summary
of key businesses and history
Crown is one of Australia’s largest entertainment
groups. The group’s core businesses and
investments are in the gaming and entertainment
sector. Crown wholly owns and operates two of
Australia’s leading gaming and entertainment
complexes, Crown Entertainment Complex in Melbourne
and Burswood Entertainment Complex in Perth.
In
addition, Crown owns a portfolio of gaming investments
that have been accumulated to complement Crown's
existing core businesses and to provide for future
growth. These include strategic interests in:
*
Melco Crown Entertainment (Macau) Limited: a joint
venture developing casino/hotel properties in
Macau;
*
Gateway Casinos: one of the largest casino operators
in Western Canada;
*
Aspinall Holdings (Jersey) Limited: a premium
casino business in the United Kingdom;
*
Fontainebleau Equity Holdings LLC: which owns
Fontainebleau Resorts, the developer of casinos
and resort properties on the Las Vegas Strip and
Miami Beach; and
* Betfair Australasia Pty Ltd: an online betting
exchange.
Crown
announced a transaction in December 2007 to acquire
Cannery Casino Resorts (CCR) which operates four
casinos in Nevada and Western Pennsylvania in
the USA catering to local and regional customers.
This transaction is expected to close late 2008,
subject to regulatory approval.
Crown's
Australian Gaming Businesses
Crown Entertainment Complex
The
Crown Entertainment Complex in Melbourne is one
of the largest integrated entertainment complexes
in the southern hemisphere, with its casino, hotels,
function rooms, restaurants, shopping and entertainment
facilities.
The
casino features 2,500 electronic gaming machines
and 350 table games and the casino licence extends
to 2033. It operates one of the largest single-site
VIP operations in the world. Its two hotels offer
947 rooms, including 31 luxury villas. A third
hotel, with 658 rooms, is scheduled to open in
2010. For further information visit the Crown
Melbourne Website.
Burswood Entertainment Complex
The
Burswood Entertainment Complex was acquired in
2004. Burswood is Perth's ultimate entertainment
experience. The complex encompasses two international
hotels, a state of the art convention centre,
the 21,000 seat Burswood Dome and award-winning
food and beverage outlets catering for all tastes
and budgets.
The
casino has approval for 1,750 electronic machines
and 170 table games and the casino licence extends
for the life of the Burswood Property Trust (currently
until 2060). Like the Crown Entertainment Complex
in Melbourne it has an extensive international
VIP clientele. Burswood is in the unique position
of being the only venue in the dynamic and exciting
environment that is Western Australia to offer
electronic gaming and table games. For further
information visit the Burswood website.
Crown's Investments
Melco Crown Entertainment (Macau) Limited
Melco
Crown Entertainment (Macau) Limited (MPEL) is
a joint venture company which was established
in 2004 with a major Hong Kong listed company,
Melco International Development, to pursue new
gaming ventures in Macau. MPEL is a developer
and owner of casinos and entertainment resort
facilities. It is focused on the Macau market
and its subsidiary, Melco PBL Gaming (Macau) Limited
is one of six companies granted concessions or
sub concessions to operate casinos in Macau. MPEL's
operating businesses include Crown Macau and the
Mocha Clubs. MPEL's development projects include
The City of Dreams, the initial phase of which
is targeted to open by the end of March 2009 and
a conditional contract to acquire the Macau Peninsula
site.
MPEL
listed its American Depository shares on the NASDAQ
under the symbol MPEL in December 2006. As at
May 2008, Crown's interest in MPEL was approximately
38%.
Aspinalls Holdings (Jersey) Limited
Crown
holds a 50% interest in Aspinalls Holdings (Jersey)
Limited (Aspinalls), a long-established premium
casino company, whose subsidiaries operate the
renowned Aspinall's Club in London's Mayfair,
Aspers at the Gate in Newcastle and Aspers at
Salubrious Palace in Swansea. Two more new casinos
are being developed - in Bournemouth and Northampton,
the latter in a joint venture with Kerzner UK
Limited.
Fontainebleau Equity Holdings
Crown
holds a 19.6% interest in Fontainebleau Equity
Holdings LLC which owns Fontainebleau Resorts
LLC (Fontainebleau). Fontainebleau is currently
building Fontainebleau Las Vegas, a 63 storey
complex on a 24 acre site at the northern end
of the legendary "Las Vegas Strip."
Fontainebleau also has a 50% interest in the Fontainebleau
Miami Beach Resort which is undertaking a major
renovation at a cost of $540 million which will
be completed in the second half of 2008. The Dubai
based Nakheel PJSC owns the other 50% of Fontainebleau
Miami Beach Resort.
Gateway Casinos Canada
Crown
entered into a Joint Venture with Macquarie Bank
to purchase Gateway Casinos in Canada in 2007.
Gateway is one of the largest casino operators
in Western Canada, operating nine casinos across
the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta.
Crown has a 50% interest in Gateway. On completion
of planned developments (expected 2010), Gateway
Casinos will operate in excess of 200 tables and
5,400 gaming machines.
Betfair Australasia
Betfair
Australasia Pty Ltd (Betfair)is a joint venture
company which was established in 2004 with Betfair
UK (The Sporting Exchange Limited) in which Crown
has a 50% interest. Betfair is a betting exchange
for customers resident in Australia or New Zealand.
A betting exchange operates on online market where
individuals with differing views on an event make
fixed-price bets, effectively wagering between
themselves. Betfair does not operate retail premises,
nor does it have an on-course presence; its services
are exclusively provided via the internet or telephone.
Cannery Casino Resorts
In
December 2007, Crown announced a transaction to
acquire 100% of Cannery Casino Resorts (CCR) which
is expected to close late 2008, subject to regulatory
approval.
CCR
is a US locals casino operator, whose current
operations consist of:
* Cannery Casino, North Las Vegas;
* Rampart Casino, Summerlin, Las Vegas;
* East Side Cannery, a new facility to replace
the Nevada Palace, scheduled to open in September
2008; and
* The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania which is operating in a temporary
facility. Construction of the Meadows permanent
facility is underway and is due to open in April
2009.
Upon
full build out, CCR will have a total of approximately
9,000 slots and 73 tables.
(Credit:
Crown Limited).
Profiles
Crown
Casino
Burswood
Entertainment Complex
Betfair
Crown
Macau
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