Australian casino operator Crown Ltd, a 37 percent shareholder in the Macau gaming developer Melco Crown Entertainment (MPEL), says it has raised AUD1.6 billion from ten banks to repay debt falling due in August 2010.
Crown’s next major refinancing is now due in late 2011. Crown chief financial officer Geoff Kleemann told Australia’s BusinessDaily the company was being more prudent than usual about its debt position given the state of financial markets.
Analysts welcomed Crown’s move, saying it allayed fears it was going to have to inject more money into MPEL to complete its City of Dreams project in Macau.
Crown’s debt stands at about AUD180 million and will rise to AUD1.4 billion (USD900 million) once it settles a USD1.75 billion purchase of a group of Las Vegas casinos known as Cannery Casino Resorts.
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