Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUL 2019年7月 亞博匯 10 EDITORIAL Buying into the business www.asgam.com W ith the global land-based gaming industry becoming more and more competitive with each passing year, mergers and acquisitions have become the latest trend for operators looking to spread their interests, reduce risk and grow their international database. The most recent instance has seen Hong Kong- based Melco Resorts & Entertainment – a company with gaming interests in Macau, the Philippines and Cyprus – purchase a 19.99% stake in Australian casino operator Crown Resorts. News of Melco’s acquisition came just a few weeks after it was revealed that Wynn Resorts had ceased negotiations with Crown over a takeover deal after details of discussions were leaked to the media. The Melco move came as somewhat of a surprise given the former partners in the Melco-Crown tie-up had split less than two years earlier. But there is also method to Melco's madness ahead of what could eventually become a full acquisition of Crown, with Bernstein analysts stating, “A full acquisition of Crown would have solid strategic rationale as it would allow Melco’s junket relationships and customer database to strengthen the Australian business high end operations.” Melco Chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho explains his rationale in more detail in this issue’s cover story. Bernstein had earlier offered its thoughts on why Wynn had shown interest in Crown, suggesting “There may be solid synergies with respect to Chinese customers. We also see an acquisition as partly a possible defensive strategy for Wynn to fend off any potential acquirers. Wynn’s Macau and Las Vegas assets are crown jewels in the gaming industry, and an acquisition of Wynn has been discussed by investors.” One foreign operator to have already dug its claws into Wynn is Macau’s Galaxy Entertainment Group. In March 2018, on the same day as Wynn founder Steve Wynn sold off his entire remaining stake in the company, Galaxy spent almost US$930