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INTERNATIONAL<br />
BRIEFS<br />
Canberra casino announces<br />
stunning 80% revenue rise<br />
Australia’s Canberra Casino, purchased by Tony Fung’s Aquis<br />
Entertainment 12 months ago, saw profits rise by a staggering 80%<br />
year on year in October.<br />
The once ailing casino in the nation’s capital appears to be<br />
enjoying a stunning turnaround under its new ownership, with<br />
October revenue reported at AU$2.4 million – a massive 62% rise<br />
on September profits.<br />
The results come just two months after Aquis Entertainment<br />
announced an ambitious plan to embark on a AU$330 million<br />
redevelopment of the tiny property, which currently houses just 39<br />
gaming tables.<br />
The redevelopment is contingent on the ACT Government lifting<br />
a ban that limits the operation of slot machines to not-for-profit<br />
clubs within the ACT’s borders. Canberra Casino currently has no<br />
slot machines but Aquis is requesting approval for 500 machines<br />
on site which could generate an additional AU$60 million in tax<br />
revenue for the government.<br />
Chief Minister Andrew Barr is said to be considering the proposal.<br />
If approved, the redevelopment would produce the ACT’s first<br />
integrated resort with a new casino, dining, entertainment and retail<br />
options as well as an expanded National Convention Centre covering<br />
3,300 square metres. It would also feature two new hotels including a<br />
100-room five star hotel and a 12-suite six star boutique hotel.<br />
Aquis is already close to securing final approval to build a huge<br />
AU$8 billion integrated resort in the tropical Queensland town of<br />
Cairns, where they are pushing to have 1,500 slot machines allowed<br />
on premises.<br />
The Cairns development would employ up to 16,000 staff and<br />
include an incredible 7,500 hotel rooms, two separate casinos, a<br />
golf course and an artificial lagoon.<br />
Aquis has claimed that a redeveloped Canberra Casino would<br />
attract around 750,000 visitors per year and tap into the lucrative<br />
Chinese high roller market however ClubsACT has disputed the figure.<br />
Ruffin purchased Treasure Island from MGM in 2009 for<br />
US$775 million at a time when MGM was struggling to raise cash<br />
for its then-under-construction CityCenter project amid declining<br />
earnings and a poor economy. He said he was keen to add The<br />
Mirage – which is already connected to Treasure Island by tram – to<br />
his portfolio because of its 65 acres including 300,000 square feet<br />
of convention space.<br />
However, MGM Resorts has since announced that The Mirage<br />
would instead be one of 10 resorts owned by the company to be<br />
included in MGM Growth Properties – a publicly traded real estate<br />
investment trust – which will now lease the property back to MGM<br />
to operate.<br />
MGM originally took over both The Mirage and Treasure Island<br />
when it purchased Mirage Resorts from Steve Wynn in 2000.<br />
Ruffin – currently listed at number 279 on the Forbes 400 list<br />
with a net worth of US$2.4 billion – is no stranger to the Vegas<br />
Strip, having previously owned the New Frontier before selling it to<br />
an Israeli group in 2007. It was closed and imploded in 2007.<br />
He has also been busy picking up real estate around the country<br />
recently, having purchased an office tower in his home town of<br />
Wichita, Woodlands Racetrack in Kansas City and a 10-acre property<br />
near Sunset Park in Las Vegas.<br />
Ruffin is a business partner with fellow billionaire and US<br />
Presidential candidate Donald Trump in the Trump International<br />
Hotel and Tower – Las Vegas’ tallest residential building – which he<br />
says has almost been fully paid for after Trump recently sold around<br />
300 condominium units to Hilton Worldwide’s timeshare division.<br />
The development still has 400 units remaining with just US$12<br />
million of debt remaining from the US$567 million he and Trump<br />
started out with.<br />
Daily fantasy sports head<br />
to New York Supreme Court<br />
Daily fantasy sports (DFS) giants FanDuel and DraftKings have<br />
presented their case to the New York Supreme Court opposing an<br />
attempt by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to have<br />
them shut down.<br />
Schneiderman sent a number of daily fantasy sports companies<br />
cease and desist letters in early November, claiming they were<br />
conducting illegal gambling operations.<br />
MGM reject sale of Las Vegas icon<br />
The Mirage to Treasure Island owner<br />
The owner of famous Las Vegas casino Treasure Island, Phil Ruffin,<br />
recently offered to buy neighboring property The Mirage from MGM<br />
Resorts International for US$1.3 billion but the deal was rejected,<br />
according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.<br />
44<br />
inside asian gaming <strong>December</strong> <strong>2015</strong>
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