Published: Tuesday, April 3, 2007 11:47 PM ET Canadian Press: GARY NORRIS http://www.cbc.ca/cp/business/070403/b040390A.html
TORONTO (CP) - Australia's Macquarie Bank is joining Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd. in a bid to take over Gateway Casinos, a major gambling operator in Western Canada,
in a friendly deal valued at $1.37 billion. The 50-50 Australian joint venture, New World Gaming, is offering $25.26 per unit in cash or a total of about $800 million for the Gateway Casinos Income Fund (TSX:GCI.UN). Including assumed debt as well as the purchase of operating companies Gateway Casinos Inc. and Fortune Gaming Management, Gateway said the transaction value totals $1.37 billion.Gateway, based in Burnaby, B.C., employs 3,000
people at three casinos in the Vancouver area, four in the Okanagan region and two in Edmonton."We see Gateway Casinos as a great opportunity for PBL to enter the North American gaming sector," Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd. gaming CEO and New World Gaming president Rowen Craigie said in a statement released Wednesday morning from Sydney.Gateway CEO Dave Gadhia welcomed the agreement and said he looks forward to working with Macquarie and with PBL, "recognized as one of the world's leading gaming and entertainment companies with a history of innovation and success in Australia and Asia."The takeover bid, subject to acceptance by two-thirds of unitholders and approval by gaming regulators in B.C. and Alberta, represents a premium of 26 per cent over the $20.03 closing price of the trust's units Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
TORONTO (CP) - Australia's Macquarie Bank is joining Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd. in a bid to take over Gateway Casinos, a major gambling operator in Western Canada,
in a friendly deal valued at $1.37 billion. The 50-50 Australian joint venture, New World Gaming, is offering $25.26 per unit in cash or a total of about $800 million for the Gateway Casinos Income Fund (TSX:GCI.UN). Including assumed debt as well as the purchase of operating companies Gateway Casinos Inc. and Fortune Gaming Management, Gateway said the transaction value totals $1.37 billion.Gateway, based in Burnaby, B.C., employs 3,000
people at three casinos in the Vancouver area, four in the Okanagan region and two in Edmonton."We see Gateway Casinos as a great opportunity for PBL to enter the North American gaming sector," Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd. gaming CEO and New World Gaming president Rowen Craigie said in a statement released Wednesday morning from Sydney.Gateway CEO Dave Gadhia welcomed the agreement and said he looks forward to working with Macquarie and with PBL, "recognized as one of the world's leading gaming and entertainment companies with a history of innovation and success in Australia and Asia."The takeover bid, subject to acceptance by two-thirds of unitholders and approval by gaming regulators in B.C. and Alberta, represents a premium of 26 per cent over the $20.03 closing price of the trust's units Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
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