Wynn Macau shares jump in debut
HONG KONG -- Billionaire Steve Wynn's Macau casino company jumped 13 percent in its trading debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange Friday, reflecting stronger faith in the southern Chinese gambling city's prospects.
Wynn Macau Ltd. shares peaked at 11.40 Hong Kong dollars ($1.47) before falling back to close at HK$10.78, about 7 percent above the initial public offering price. The IPO shares were sold for HK$10.08 each, the high end of the range at which they were marketed to investors, raising $1.63 billion.
Wynn's Macau resort, whose curved, bronze-tinted tower bears a resemblance to his trademark Las Vegas hotel casino, has been immensely profitable and helped the company weather the downturn in the U.S.
The IPO, representing a 25 percent stake in his Macau operations, was Hong Kong's second-biggest of the year and among its most watched due partly to the novelty of a famous, high-end American company deciding to list on the Chinese financial center's exchange.
"We have become more of a Chinese company, something that Mr. Wynn ... always wanted," Allan Zeman, a Wynn Macau director and Hong Kong businessman, said at the stock exchange before trading opened. Wynn, 67, who visited the region recently to promote the offering, was not on hand.
Las Vegas-based Wynn's second Macau resort, called Encore, is due to open next year. He's also mulling a third property on 52 acres in the city's growing Cotai area and has already applied for government approval to build a resort of nearly 5 million square feet.
The IPO precedes a similar move by Las Vegas Sands Corp., led by tycoon and Wynn rival Sheldon Adelson, who is expected to sell $2 billion of shares in his company's Macau operations and list them on Hong Kong's stock exchange.
The robust demand for Wynn's stock defied expectations after several recent Hong Kong IPOs flopped in their first days of trading and analysts said the offering was sold at a relatively high premium compared to other casino companies.
That may have been partly because of better investor sentiment following this year's revival in Macau, the world's most lucrative casino market and the one place in China where gambling is legal.
Revenue growth started tapering off during the depths of the economic crisis but has picked up in recent months thanks to a stronger Chinese economy and an easing of visa restrictions on mainland gamblers who are the lifeblood of the city's casinos.
Wynn taps bonds in bid for N.Y. slots
Wynn Resorts Ltd. sold $500 million of bonds, 43 percent more than planned, as the casino company founded by billionaire Steve Wynn bids to run New York City's first slot-machine contract.
The 7.875 percent, first-mortgage notes due in 2017 are priced at a discount to yield 8.25 percent, or 504 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The company's Wynn Las Vegas LLC unit issued the notes. Wynn had earlier planned to sell $350 million of debt. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
Wynn is bidding to redevelop Aqueduct Racetrack in New York's borough of Queens and operate 4,500 slot-machine-style video-lottery terminals there. The Las Vegas-based company's offering likely reflects Wynn's "desire" to win the contract and raise cash for projects in Asia, including the Cotai Strip in Macau, Barbara Cappaert, a high-yield analyst at KDP Investment Advisors, said Friday in a report.
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