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Gaming houses take the punt
By Katrina Nicholas - Sydney Morning Herald
Two more Internet gaming companies decided yesterday to join their public counterparts and take a punt on making a mint on the stock exchange.
Northern Territory's Lasseters, operator of Australia's first regulated online casino, unveiled a $40 million public offer. Melbourne's gamble.com.au revealed plans to raise $16 million to develop an online site and gained the support of industry association and lobby group Clubs Victoria.
A third online casino group, Brisbane's Go Corp, is also considering a public share offer.
Gamble.com.au, which has secured a gaming licence from Vanuatu, plans to raise the money by selling 32.5 million shares at 50c apiece.
The outfit has also attracted a high-calibre management team, with former chief executive of United Energy Mr Harvey Parker to become gamble.com.au's chairman and Mr James Carroll, the former chief executive of Totalizator Agency Board of Victoria (now Tabcorp), to join as a non-executive director.
Lasseters, meanwhile, will offer 30 million new shares and 10 million existing shares at $1 each. After the float, which is being underwritten by Macquarie Equity Capital Markets, 66 per cent of the company will be held by existing shareholders and the rest by the public.
Lasseters Online general manager Mr David Ohlson said most of the money raised - $10.4 million - would be used to retire debt, and $9.7 million for marketing and systems development.
The $10 million generated via a vendor sell-down will go to Malaysian brothers Mr Dato' Jaya Tan, Mr Kamal Tan and Mr Tajuddin Tan. Their company, Quilter Assets, now known as Lasseters Holdings, acquired Lasseters Casino in July 1997.
Mhh... Real interesting to note who has the money invested here. And it sure doesn't look like they are TRUE BLUEIES!!!!
The brothers will still hold 74.8 million shares between them after the offer, giving them a 63.7 per cent interest in the company. The 2.2 per cent not held by them will be held by non-executive director Mr Kuan Peng Soon.
Listed online gaming stocks have put in a mediocre performance in recent days, following a Senate report that recommended a moratorium on online gambling and a ban on the use of credit cards at Web-based casinos.
Yesterday Coms21's offshoot eBet was down 3c to 68c while Coms21 itself slid 1c to 28c. Darwin's International All Sports fared worse, ending the day down 6c at $1.07. Shares in miner-turned-online casino operator Trans-Global Interactive, fell 2c to 18c.
[This message has been edited by Fedya Fussball (edited 03-22-2000).]