Issue 249
June 20 - June 26, 2005
Volume 5
page 2
 

Century Casinos Announces Letter of Intent for Second South African Casino
Press Release

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - Century Casinos, Inc. announced today that its subsidiary, Century Casinos Africa (Pty) Ltd., entered into a letter of intent to acquire 60% of Balele Leisure (Pty) Ltd.

Balele holds a casino license from the South African province of Kwazulu Natal and currently operates a casino in a temporary location in Newcastle, South Africa, with 200 slot machines and seven table games. Plans are in place to develop a permanent facility at a more prominent site for 220 slot machines and nine table games, a small hotel as well as ancillary facilities.

The transaction would also give Century a long term agreement to manage the casino operations for a fee based on gross revenues and EBITDA.

The final purchase price for the 60% controlling interest depends on the permanent facility's gross gaming revenue in its first year of operation. Based on current projections, it will be in the range of 4 to 4.5 times estimated EBITDA.

Newcastle, with approximately 350,000 inhabitants, is situated half-way between Johannesburg and Durban in the northwestern portion of Kwazulu Natal, which is South Africa's most populous province with over 10 million people. Five casinos are operating in the province (including Balele's in Newcastle), which is the maximum allowed by law, with the two largest facilities in the Durban area.

"We are excited that, as a result of our successful operation of The Caledon Casino, Hotel & Spa resort in the Western Cape province, this opportunity presented itself to further expand our South African operations," said Peter Hoetzinger, Co-CEO and President of Century Casinos, Inc. "Given the strong economic climate and the growing popularity of casino gaming in South Africa, we look forward to closing this transaction soon, " he continued.

The transaction is subject to financial and legal due diligence, the negotiation and completion of final documentation as well as board and regulatory approvals.

 

 

 

MGM Mirage's project in Macau under way
As reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal

Macau - MGM Mirage became the third Las Vegas-based casino operator to begin construction of a gambling complex in Macau when the company broke ground today on a 600-room hotel-casino in the Chinese gaming enclave.

"Macau may be a small place, but it always thinks big," Terry Lanni, chairman and CEO of MGM Mirage, said Tuesday. "This is a fascinating part of the world, and we're very happy we are entering this dynamic new market and playing a role in this, yet another turning point in Macau's rich history. "

The $975 million MGM Grand Macau will be located on a waterfront site, which the company has called as the city-state's future casino Strip. The groundbreaking took place around 8 p.m. Tuesday, Las Vegas time, which was 1 p.m. Wednesday in China.

The MGM Mirage property is near the Lisboa hotel-casino and an under construction gambling house being built by Wynn Resorts Ltd. MGM Grand Macau will be jointly owned and operated by MGM Mirage and Chinese businesswoman Pansy Ho Chiu-king.

In April, MGM Mirage said the joint venture partnership had been granted a subconcession by the government of Macau that allowed development and operation of a hotel and casino complex.

The resort will include several restaurants and entertainment facilities and a casino with space for 300 table games and 1,000 slot machines. In addition to MGM Mirage and Wynn Resorts, Las Vegas Sands Corp., operates the Sands Macau.

The company plans to expand the property and plans to develop the Macau Venetian casino and six hotel properties on the nearby Cotai Strip area that will also include casinos.



Gala Bingo Launches Using Parlay Entertainment's Bingo Software
Press Release

London - Parlay Entertainment Inc. (PINK SHEETS:PRYNF - News), the world's leading supplier of Internet bingo solutions, is pleased to announce that Gala Bingo, the United Kingdom's dominant bingo operator has launched its online bingo website www.galabingo.co.uk using Parlay's flagship multi-player bingo software. Gala's online bingo site will offer 90-number bingo games with linked jackpots to thousands of online bingo players across the UK.

Dominic Harrison, Gala Group's Trading Director says: "The launch of Gala's online bingo is an important strategic move for the company. Gala believes that online bingo is set to be the next big thing in online gaming - and the most exciting development since online poker." Mr. Harrison further added, "With 166 bingo clubs in the UK, a Gala Bingo website was a natural augmentation for the company. With its expertise in this area and a 40% share of UK land-based bingo, Gala is well placed to become the UK's number one online bingo brand."

Gala Bingo chose the Parlay-based St. Minver bingo network because it operates on an aggregated model so that all partners in the network will benefit from shared critical mass and large jackpots. Gala is supporting the launch with a comprehensive integrated online and offline marketing campaign which includes advertisements in national media, point of sale in Gala's 166 Bingo clubs, and a sponsorship with Big Brother.com, which will deliver over two million page impressions per day.

"We are extremely pleased with Gala Group's decision to power their new online bingo portal with Parlay's industry leading bingo software," said Andrew Branscombe, Vice President of Sales for Parlay Entertainment.

It is estimated that some $150 million is deposited in Internet bingo halls annually by 5 million online players. With only 5% of online bingo players presently emanating from the UK, Gala's ability to convert some of its estimated 2.2 million land-based players to also play on the Internet could dramatically enhance the size of the online bingo sector.

"Gala's entry into online bingo is a momentous event for Parlay and the gaming industry because it signals the acceptance of online bingo by major land-based operators as a significant component of their corporate growth strategy," continued Mr. Branscombe. "This confirms to us that the online bingo market is rapidly evolving and that Parlay is at the forefront of this evolution by driving significant change within our industry."

John Cafferty

Mohegan Sun : Known informally as "The man who made Eddie Cruise," John Cafferty, an award-winning songwriter and singer appears at the Wolf Den.

Date: July 27, 2005

Time: 8:00 pm

For more information please call:1-888-226-7711 ext. 27163
 
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