RelatedPosts
Japanese pachinko hall operator Niraku GC Holdings has applied to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange for listing as a public company with plans to raise between US$100 million and $200 million through an initial share offering.
Niraku is looking to emulate the success of Dynam Japan Holdings, whose shares had surged 47% through the third quarter since going public in August 2012—the first pachinko operator to list on the HKSE.
Dynam’s IPO raised $202 million for expansion and diversification into new markets, notably Macau, where the company has invested more than $50 million in Hong Kong-listed casino and hotel operator Macau Legend, developer of a mixed-use gaming and tourism complex in the Chinese gambling hub known as Fisherman’s Wharf.
Dynam also has been in partnership talks with a number of major casino operators in the region on a destination-scale gaming resort in Japan, pending passage of a bill in the National Diet to legalize the industry. Prospects for such a bill, which faltered in 2014 in the face of political opposition, received a boost last month when voters largely endorsed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic policies in a special election called by the government. Mr Abe is a vocal supporter of legalization.
Niraku, based in northeastern Japan’s Koriyama city, saw its revenues fall more than 2% in the latest financial year after rising 15% over the previous two years. Its home prefecture of Fukushima was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
The company wants to launch the IPO in the first half, according to news reports, and has earmarked the proceeds for the opening of five new pachinko parlors over the next two years. The company currently runs 54 venues nationwide, including several in Tokyo.
