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 chunhan.wong@dowjones.com
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