GAMBLING INDUSTRY – AUSTRALIA

Tabcorp-Tatts double up with $11bn punt

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 20-Oct-16

Tabcorp’s takeover offer for Tatts Group comprises 0.80 of its shares and a $A042.5 cash payment for each of the target’s shares. Tatts shareholders will control 58 per cent of the merged company if the deal is approved. It has been endorsed by the boards of both companies, as well as major institutional investors such as Perpetual and AustralianSuper. The merged group would boast a market capitalisation of about $A8.6bn and annual revenue of more than $A5bn. Tabcorp CEO David Attenborough would head the merged company.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, PERPETUAL LIMITED – ASX PPT, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, NORTHCAPE CAPITAL PTY LTD

Tatts, Tabcorp bet on $9.4bn link

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 19-Oct-16

Shares in gaming giants Tabcorp Holdings and Tatts Group were placed in trading halts on 18 October 2016, pending an announcement on a potential scheme of arrangement merger. A merged entity would have a market capitalisation of around $A9.4bn and boast annual synergies of about $A100m. It would also be in a stronger position to pursue growth via offshore acquisitions. The two groups shelved a "merger of equals" proposal in 2015 after failing to reach agreement on valuations.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, UBET, DEUTSCHE BANK AG, SUN BETS, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

TV chiefs rail against gambling-ad threat

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 23 : 18-Jul-16

Standard Media Index data shows that the gambling industry spend some $A63m on TV advertising in the first half of 2016, which represents year-on-year growth of nearly 20 per cent. The CEOs of Australia’s commercial free-to-air networks are united in their opposition to a push for new restrictions on gambling ads on TV. Crossbenchers Nick Xenophon and ­Andrew Wilkie are leading the bid to ban gambling ads during the broadcasting of sports events in certain timeslots.

CORPORATES
SMI MEDIA INCORPORATED, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TEN, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, THE NIELSEN COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, SPORTSBET AUSTRALIA, LADBROKES, CROWNBET PTY LTD

Packer bid to unlock Crown value

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Original article by James Thomson, Perry Williams, John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 10 : 16-Jun-16

The board of Crown Resorts has proposed to restructure the Australian-listed company. The new corporate structure involves the creation of an international holding company which will hold Crown’s stakes in Melco Crown, a US casino and hotel, the Nobu restaurant chain, British casino operator Aspers and Caesars Growth Partners. Crown Resorts will retain its existing local assets, which include casinos and hotels in Melbourne and Perth, the Barangaroo project in Sydney, Betfair Australasia, and stakes in Crownbet and the Ellerston resort in New South Wales. A listed property trust will also be created.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, MELCO CROWN ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED, CONSOLIDATED PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED, ALON, NOBU, CAESARS GROWTH PARTNERS, ASPERS, BETFAIR AUSTRALASIA PTY LTD, CROWNBET PTY LTD, CROWN TOWERS, CONSOLIDATED PRESS HOLDINGS LIMITED

Tabcorp’s new charges from money-laundering cop

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 21-Apr-16

Tabcorp has allegedly breached the anti-money laundering rules. The Australian Transaction Reports & Analysis Centre (Austrac) alleges that the wagering group failed to notify the regulator of more than 30 TAB accounts being opened by criminals using false names to launder funds generated through fraudulent credit card transactions. The Federal Court was due to hear the case in September 2016, but the hearing has been postponed until 6 June 2017.

CORPORATES
TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, TAB LIMITED, ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX

‘It’s not right, it’s unfair, it’s trial by media,’ says ASX CEO

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Original article by Perry Williams, Tony Boyd
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 22-Mar-16

ASX Limited chairman Rick Holliday-Smith will become acting CEO of the stock exchange operator following the resignation of Elmer Funke Kupper, who has been CEO for more than four years. Funke Kupper says he stepped down to protect the company’s integrity, adding that his priority is the Australian Federal Police’s investigation into allegations of corruption at Tabcorp when he was CEO. Funke Kupper has stressed that he has not been told that he is personally under investigation.

CORPORATES
ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL POLICE, CAMBODIA. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, McKINSEY AND COMPANY, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION

Tatts in $540m court shock

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Original article by Sarah-Jane Tasker
The Australian – Page: 19 & 22 : 3-Mar-16

Shares in Tatts Group shed 4.35 per cent to close at $A3.74 on 2 March 2016, after the High Court ruled in the Victorian Government’s favour in a dispute over the termination of the company’s poker machine licence. The court ordered Tatts to repay a total of $A540m which it had been awarded as compensation by a previous court ruling in 2014. The latest judgment has prompted speculation that Tatts could seek to revive merger talks with rival Tabcorp, although Tatts CEO Robert Cooke recently said this is not on the agenda.

CORPORATES
TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, UBET

We hate gambling ads? You bet we do

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Original article by Rick Wallace
The Australian – Page: 8 : 12-Feb-16

New figures shows that Australian corporate bookmakers spent $A81m on advertising in the year to 31 October 2015, which is 55 per cent higher than previously. Sportsbet accounted for about $A34m of this expenditure, while CrownBet spent $A16m. Federal MP Alan Tudge says many voters have expressed their dislike for gambling ads on TV, and he notes that some state governments are taking action to increase regulation of such advertising.

CORPORATES
SPORTSBET AUSTRALIA, CROWNBET PTY LTD, WILLIAM HILL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, LADBROKES, BET365 GROUP LIMITED, TATTS GROUP LIMITED – ASX TTS, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, VICTORIA. DEPT OF JUSTICE. CONSUMER AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS VICTORIA

Bookies say disgraced outfit is a lock for wooden spoon

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 13-Jan-16

Punters who have backed Essendon to win the 2016 Australian Football League premiership will be offered a refund by Sportsbet in the wake of the landmark ruling on the supplements scandal. The firm notes that Essendon had been heavily backed to win both its first game of the season and the premiership. With many Essendon players now banned for the entire season, Sportsbet is no longer accepting bets on the team that will finish last on the AFL ladder.

CORPORATES
ESSENDON FOOTBALL CLUB, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, SPORTSBET AUSTRALIA, PADDY POWER PLC, TABCORP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX TAH, WILLIAM HILL AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, UBET, GOLD COAST FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED, SYDNEY FOOTBALL CLUB, ADELAIDE FOOTBALL CLUB, RICHMOND FOOTBALL CLUB, NORTH MELBOURNE FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED, PORT ADELAIDE FOOTBALL CLUB

Packer privatisation push to buoy Crown

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Original article by Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 16 : 12-Jan-16

Shares in Crown Resorts closed $A0.11 higher at $A11.87 on 11 January 2016. Sacha Krien and Anthony Longo of CLSA have concluded that the casino operator is currently trading at a discount to fair value, and suggest that there is a "reasonable chance" that Crown will be privatised by 53 per cent shareholder James Packer. CLSA has upgraded its share price target by seven per cent, to $A13.38.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED – ASX CWN, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MELCO CROWN ENTERTAINMENT LIMITED, MORGAN STANLEY AUSTRALIA LIMITED