Inside Asian Gaming

Dec 2007 | INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 45 Briefs rael National Lottery) Shimon Katzenelson and Chairman of the Israel Hotels Association Eli Gonen recently reached an agreement on the exact form a casino in Eilat should take. They agreed that the casino would be part of an entertainment and convention complex,but that hotel facilities would be provided separately outside the complex. Maria Holdings Sold to Unibet Malta-based online gambling group Maria Holdings has been sold to Internet gambling firm Unibet for US$109 million. Maria Holdings is known for popular gambling domains such as MariaBingo.com, MariaCasino.com, CarlosPoker.com, CarlosPlace. com and Bingo.se. Unibet stated that taking over the firm was part of a strategy to broaden its demographic coverage, especially in the Nordic countries. Chief Executive Officer for Unibet, Petter Nylander, said,“With this acquisition we will strengthen our position in the Nordic region as well as within the fast growing online bingo market.” He added: “Unibet is today the leading private gaming com- pany among men and with this acquisition we will also be leading among women.” Maria Holdings’ marketing strategy and product innovations have proved successful and given the company a leading Nordic po- sition in the lucrative female customer segment for gaming. Unibet is known as one of the largest privately owned gambling operators in Europe.The company provides its services in over 20 lan- guages and is listed on Stockholm’s OMX Nordic Exchange. Trump Scouts Massachusetts Location Donald Trump is scouring waterfronts, depressed mill towns, and vacant rural tracts across Massachusetts, searching for locations suit- able for a lavish resort casino that he could develop under Governor Deval Patrick’s proposal to legalize casino gambling, says a report in the Boston Globe . His list of as many as a dozen sites includes undisclosed locations in the Boston area,the region that an industry source said he most desires, as well as the Holyoke Mall and a harness racing track in Plainville. Executives from Trump’s resort development arm, Trump Enter- tainment,have toured sites in Fall River,NewBedford,andWarren,and they met recently with the mayors of Chicopee and Holyoke, accord- ing to local officials, land owners, and an industry source. They also have had extensive discussions with Gary Piontkowski, the owner of the Plainridge Racetrack in Plainville, but no agreement was reached, said the industry source. Several of the locations are in communities looking for an eco- nomic boost that have already expressed a strong interest in hosting a casino, making it more likely local voters would approve a casino if the political and economic stars line up. William Hill Joins Anti-Fraud Effort Ethoca, the leader in collaborative fraud management, an- nounced in late November that William Hill Plc, one of the world’s leading betting and gaming companies, is the latest major company to join in a collaborative effort to fight fraud. Founded in 1934, William Hill is a market leader in all major bet- ting channels in the UK with an established international presence through its online business. “Our e-commerce and fraud management system is already one of the best—and it just got better,” said Steven Reid, Group Director, Interactive Businesses, William Hill.“By using Ethoca’s service we can securely and effectively co-operate with other companies to beat fraud. Collaborating with other companies to fight fraud is right for our business and our customers.” Ethoca is the only service that allows companies to benefit from the fraud experiences of other companies—accepting more of the “right” types of transactions increases revenue, and declining the “wrong” ones reduces losses and non-payment. Ethoca recently also added betting and gaming companies bwin, 888 and Stan James to its community and expects other sig- nificant announcements in the months ahead. From online retail to electronic payments to online charities to gaming, global leaders see Ethoca’s collaborative fraud management service as a way to inform their decisions and enhance their profitability on thousands of transactions every day. “With 30% of the top betting and gaming companies as Ethoca members, the movement towards collaborative fraud management in that industry is now in full force,” said Andre Edelbrock, Ethoca President and CEO.“William Hill benefits from the shared experienc- es of the fraud fighting community and community members gain from the experiences of William Hill. Everybody wins.” MGM Mirage, Dubai World complete transaction MGM Mirage and Dubai World announced that they have com- pleted their previously announced 50/50 joint venture transaction in the landmark CityCenter development in Las Vegas. MGMMirage contributed the CityCenter assets which the parties hadmutually valued at US$5.4 billion,and received 50% of the equity in CityCenter. Pursuant to the terms of the joint venture agreement, Dubai World contributed approximately US$2.96 billion for 50% of the equity in CityCenter. Following the close of the joint venture transaction, MGM Mirage received a cash distribution from the joint venture of approximately US$2.47 billion. The joint venture retained approximately US$490 million to fund near-term construction costs. The joint venture will obtain project specific financing to fund re- maining project costs. Targeted for completion in late 2009, CityCenter is a luxury urban metropolis defined by its dazzling vertical architecture rising from the Las Vegas Strip. CityCenter’s design team includes many of the world’s foremost architects such as Daniel Libeskind, Lord Norman Foster, and Rafael Vinoly. The self-contained city-within-a-city will in- clude a dramatic Cesar Pelli-designed 4,000-room resort and casino, approximately 470,000 square-feet of retail and entertainment space, 2,650 luxury condominiums and condo-hotel units in multiple tow- ers, and two 400-room boutique hotels, one of which will be man- aged by luxury hotelier Mandarin Oriental. CityCenter