Inside Asian Gaming

42 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | August 2013 REGIONAL BRIEFS Intralot Wins South Korea Lottery Contract A consortium led by Intralot and Korean heavy-hitters Daewoo and Samsung has won the bidding to operate the country’s National Lottery. Nanum Lotto, as the group is known, will operate the lottery’s Online Lotto, Instant Products and Electronic Lottery through 2018 under a contract that calls for Intralot to also provide systems, monitoring and consulting services and technical support. The award is the second for the group, whose members include Daewoo Information Systems, Samsung Publishing, Youngwoo, Bixolon, NH Bank, Windyplan and the Eugene group, which has operated the National Lottery since 2007. During that time sales have increased 25% on the strength of a single game, the 6/45 LOTTO. The next five years will see the group focusing on expanding the online and instant game portfolios, Intralot said. The Athens-based lottery giant posted €717.2 million in consolidated revenues through the first half of 2013, a 4.3% increase over the prior-year period. EBITDA was up almost 20% to €97.6 million. The January-June periodwas highlighted by a 10-year renewal in Taiwan of an Intralot joint venture as operator of the country’s Public Welfare Lottery and the JV’s selection as a provider of sports betting technologies and services. Intralot’s five-year lottery contract in Tasmania also was renewed, and the company was awarded a six- year contract to provide Internet betting in Poland. The company’s longstanding relationships in Greece were extended to include a new central system and support services for monopoly betting operator OPAP and ticket sales and supply for Hellenic Lotteries. An existing contract with the Ohio State Lottery for instant ticket and gaming system services also was extended. Macau Legend Plans New Share Sale Macau Legend Development plans to sell US$300 million in new shares to fund the redevelopment of the company’s Fisherman’s Wharf gaming and entertainment complex on Macau’s Outer Harbor. The sale, the second for Macau Legend in as many months—the company raised $238 million in an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in July—will be combined with debt to build new hotels and attractions and add casino space to the sprawling outdoor venue, according to a Bloomberg report. Plans ultimately are to spend about $1 billion at the site, the company says. The company will work with CLSA, Citic Securities and Credit Suisse Group on the share sale, which could take place as soon as early next year and will raise Macau Legend’s public float to about 25% to 26% from the current 15% to 16%, Co-Chairman Carl Tong told Bloomberg . The company is also looking to refinance existing syndicated loans, he said. The company also owns the Landmark Macau on the Macau peninsula and operates a casino there, Pharaoh’s Palace, under a sub-licensing agreement with gaming concessionaire SJM. Alleged Match-Fixing Mastermind Held in Singapore In what may be one of the biggest breakthroughs yet in the global fight against match-fixing, police in Singapore have arrested 14 people, one of them believed to be Dan Tan, alleged head of a ring implicated in hundreds of crooked contests, including European Champions League andWorld Cup qualifying games. “Police confirm that the suspected leader and several other individuals who are the subject of ongoing investigations in other jurisdictions for match-fixing activities were among the persons arrested,” Singapore police said in a statement. Authorities did not name any of those detained—12 men and two women aged 38 to 60, all Singaporean nationals—but The Associated Press quoted an unidentified police official as saying Mr Tan was among five who were held. Nine reportedly were released on bail. Singapore’s Straits Times and New Paper , the latter in particular having closely followed the case, both said Dan Tan was among those arrested but did not give sources. Earlier this year, police in Europe announced they had uncovered evidence that match-fixing networks believed to be based in Singapore were responsible for rigging, or trying to rig, 680 local, league and international matches in numerous countries between 2008 and 2011. In papers filed before a court in Cremona, Italian investigators alleged that Tan Seet Eng—Mr Tan’s full name—was head of the network. InMay, Singapore police saidMr Tan was“assisting investigators,” according to the South China Morning Post . In the same month, he was charged in Hungary over the alleged manipulation of 32 games in three countries. That development came after Europol in February said a five-nation probe had identified 380 suspicious matches targeted by Singapore-based betting cartels, whose illegal activities stretched to players, referees and officials worldwide. Mr Tan has vigorously protested his innocence. But under mounting international pressure, Singapore police had dispatched officers to be briefed by their Interpol counterparts in Europe and called in Mr Tan for questioning prior to the arrests. “It’s becoming clear that they examined the evidence compiled Babylon Casino at Macau Fisherman’s Wharf