Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming August 2015 20 a landmark building that it couldn’t expand, would be overwhelmed by an IR on its doorstep. Echo arrived at this critical moment carrying dismal results for the first half of its 2013-14 fiscal year, leading to the resignation of CEO John Redmond after barely a year on the job. No one questioned the character and skill of Mr Redmond’s replacement, Chief Financial Officer Matt Bekier, Echo’s third CEO in 15 months. But many wondered if a bean counter was the right man to craft strategy to win the bidding to create a high-risk, multibillion dollar IR. Echo appeared poised to live up to a reputation of finishing second best to Crown. But last month, Echo rewrote the script, winning development rights for Queen’s Wharf. “From Echo’s standpoint, this was a must-win, particularly after losing its monopoly position in Sydney to Crown,” GamePlan Consulting founder Sudhir Kale says, equating Echo’s win with Genting securing a Singapore gaming license to protect its home base in neighboring Malaysia. “Echo trails significantly behind Crown in its Australian market share. Crown’s 56% share of the Australian casino market is already bigger than Echo’s 33%, and a Crown challenge on Echo’s Queensland doorstep would have skewed the balance further against Echo.” The Queen’s Wharf win follows two good half years under Mr Bekier, with a healthy full-year results announcement expected this month, completion of a A$1 billion (US$732 million) makeover at The Star in Sydney, and Jupiters Gold Coast well into its A$345 million In its Queensland base, Echo gets a critical victory over rival Crown for the A$4 billion Queen’s Wharf redevelopment By Muhammad Cohen Cover Story Brisbane Picks a Winner A year ago, things looked bleak for Echo Entertainment Group, Australia’s No. 2 casino operator. Arch-rival Crown Resorts had been licensed to break Echo’s monopoly in Sydney. Echo faced a new assault on its Queensland stronghold as the state government proposed new integrated resort developments in Brisbane and Gold Coast, where Echo still enjoyed exclusives. Brisbane’s Queen’s Wharf IR site was adjacent to Echo’s Treasury Hotel and Casino that, stuck in Queen’s Wharf aims to put Brisbane, Queensland’s capital, with a population of 2.3 million, on the international tourism map and win it a bigger share of Australia’s growing number of big spending Chinese visitors.