Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | June 2010 64 Briefs International Briefs CityCenter continues to close condo sales Las Vegas Review-Journal reported CityCenter continues to close residential sales of its high-rise luxury condominiums, although the pace is not what developer MGM Mirage had originally desired. Through the middle of May, closings have been completed on 125 residential units inside theMandarin Oriental andVdara, totalling US$118 million in sales, according to statistics compiled by Union Gaming Group. Of the units, 32 are at Mandarin Oriental and 93 are at Vdara, which is a condo-hotel development. The 32 Mandarin units have sold for a collective US$67.7 million, which Union Gaming estimated is in excess of $1,000 per square foot. Eight of the Mandarin units had purchase prices above $3 million. At Vdara, the 93 units sold for a total of $50 million. In total, Mandarin has 227 units while Vdara holds 1,495 condo- hotel units. Sales closings have not yet begun at Veer towers, which has 670 units. In total, CityCenter has 2,400 residential units. “We are encouraged by the number of closings through the first few months of the process at CityCenter, although we acknowledge they represent just the tip of the iceberg,” said Union Gaming Group Principal Grant Govertsen. “Importantly, we do not believe investors are ascribing any value to residential sales at CityCenter, so every unit that closes represents upside to expectations.” John Paulson acquires second biggest stake in MGM Mirage Billionaire John Paulson, through his New York-based hedge fund, has become the second-largest shareholder in MGM Mirage. Bloomberg News reported Paulson & Co acquired 40 million shares of MGM Mirage, as well as 4 million shares of Boyd Gaming Corp, during the first quarter of this year. The stake in MGM Mirage places Paulson behind only MGM Mirage founder Kirk Kerkorian, the 92-year-old Los Angeles-based billionaire, as the casino operator’s largest investor. Kerkorian, who serves on the company’s board of directors, controls 37% of MGM Mirage. Dubai World, the investment arm of the Persian Gulf emirate, owns just below 10% of MGM Mirage’s common stock. According to Bloomberg , Paulson’s stake in Boyd Gaming made the billionaire the company’s fourth-largest owner. Paulson’s hedge fund made US$15 billion betting on the decline in subprime mortgages in 2007. Paulson oversees $35 billion in hedge funds, which are loosely regulated private partnerships that can bet on rising or falling prices of any securities. MGM Mirage operates 10 Strip resorts, along with casinos WMS recruiting for online casino positions Leading slot machine manufacturer WMS appears to be on the verge of launching an online casino. While no official comment was made available, several recent job postings indicate WMS will be hiring executives with experience running and marketing an online casino. One job posting seeks a “Leading Casino Innovator – Senior Affiliate Manager” to “join an exciting new UK online gaming operation.” The posting seeks someone with 2-3 years of experience in gaming, specifically in affiliate management. The company’s public listing of the job opening indicates WMS is planning to allocate significant resources towards marketing its online offering with an affiliate program. Other job listings include “Creative Designer” with Flash experience, “Payments Assistant” and “Risk Analyst.” All jobs will be located in London, with Jon Gaunt (jgaunt@wms. com) listed as the contact for all positions. WMS produces a myriad of popular slot machine games for land- based casinos, including wide area progressive community bonus games like Monopoly, Grand Hotel Big Event, The Price is Right and Reel ‘em In! Compete to Win! IGT takes server-based gaming to Europe Slot giant International Game Technology (IGT) has rolled out the first European launch of its sbX server-based gaming system. The system, which links a casino’s slot machines to a central server that allows for better game management, is similar to the system installed last year at Aria and recently at the Monte Carlo, only on a much smaller scale. Reno-based IGT installed the system at the Casino d’Evian in France, which has 300 slot machines and is located on Lake Geneva in an area best known for its local spring water. “We are delighted to be the first casino in Europe to install sbX and plan to take advantage of all that it has to offer,” said Eric Perrin, managing director of Casino d’Evian. In addition to Aria and Monte Carlo, IGT has placed the server- based gaming system at Ameristar St. Charles (Missouri), Barona Resort (San Diego), Colusa Casino (Northern California), FireKeepers Casino (Michigan), MGM Grand Detroit, Motor City Casino (Detroit), and the Imperial Palace Biloxi (Mississippi). IGT will install the server-based systems this year internationally at Grand Casino Helsinki (Finland), and Casino di Venezia and Casino de la Valee, both in Italy. WMS Grand Hotel Big Event Vdara at CityCenter