Courier Mail – TOWNSVILLES casino will be sold to a hotel and brewing group linked to entrepreneur Chris Morris, the gaming venues owner Echo Entertainment revealed on Friday.
The price of $70 million is close to the $75 million price tag Echo was murmured to be seeking late last year when it raised the idea of selling the 20-table, 320 gaming facility.
The buyer is Colonial Leisure Group, which bought in 2011 the luxury Orpheus Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
CLG said it runs 15 hotels in Victoria and Western Australia along with a brewery in the west. In Queensland it also has Daintree Eco Lodge and Nautilus Aviation, a helicopter business between Townsville and Cairns.
“We will develop Jupiters Townsville Hotel and Casino into a leading regional resort, improving the operational and financial performance of the property,” CLG said in a statement.
Echo said it would book an $8 million pre-tax profit on the deal. It represents a sale multiple of 10 times raw earnings in fiscal 2013.
Echo again said they sold it because they saw limited expansion opportunities in Townsville and thought their capital would be better spent on expanding operations at their current Gold Coast and Brisbane casinos.
Earlier, we reported that a new player in the local casino market could emerge as owner of Townsville’s gaming venue next week, although one expert warns buyers will be taking a risk with the gambling facility.
The 20-table, 320-gaming machine casino, Jupiter’s Townsville, is owned by Echo Entertainment. Echo late last year revealed it was aiming to sell Townsville, with a murmured $75 million price tag.
Sources with knowledge of the transaction yesterday confirmed reports a deal could be sealed next week for about $70 million.
The potential buyer was also rumoured to be a domestic entity with an understanding of high-end tourism but not any existing casino operation.
Yet industry chatter tossed in other names on Thursday, including New Zealand’s SkyCity, which has Adelaide and Darwin casinos, Singapore-listed Lasseters International, with an Alice Springs casino, or interests linked to Hong Kong tycoon Tony Fung, who is behind the Aquis move on Cairns’ casino. Aquis, however, said they had no interest in Townsville casino.
Echo declined to comment.
