Genting Singapore to Sell Entire 4.8% Stake in Australia's Echo Entertainment

   By Chun Han Wong 
 

SINGAPORE--Casino operator Genting Singapore PLC (G13.SG) is selling its entire 4.8% stake in Australian gambling company Echo Entertainment Group Ltd. (EGP.AU) for about 131.7 million Australian dollars (US$137.5 million) in a move to rationalize its investment portfolio.

Genting Singapore, which operates the Resorts World Sentosa casino in the city-state, will sell its 33 million Echo shares through a block trade at A$3.99 per share, it said in a filing to the Singapore Exchange on Wednesday.

The Singapore-listed company had paid about A$144.2 million for its Echo stake, according to a regulatory filing it made in June. It didn't state the identity of the buyer of the stake. Citigroup is handling the block trade.

Genting Singapore, a unit of Malaysia's Genting Bhd. (3182.KU), had built its stake in Echo earlier this year alongside sister company Genting Hong Kong Ltd. (S21.SG), which had separately built its own stake in the Australian firm to 5.1%.

The stake buys by the two units of Genting Bhd., announced in June, had fueled market speculation that the Malaysian group was plotting a takeover of Echo or planning to block a similar bid by Australian billionaire James Packer's Crown Ltd. (CWN.AU)

Echo, which owns The Star casino in Sydney and gaming properties in Queensland state, has a 10% ownership cap in its constitution. The company is a key element in Mr. Packer's plans for a new hotel and casino in Sydney, the capital of New South Wales state where Echo holds an exclusive licence to operate casinos until 2019.

Genting Singapore had not disclosed its intentions in acquiring the Echo stake but its parent has previously tried to win casino licenses in the cities where Echo has a presence.

Write to Chun Han Wong at [e-mail]

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