PBL enters Vegas casino joint venture

PUBLISHING and Broadcasting Ltd’s latest expansion to its gaming empire will see it pour $27.37 million into a joint venture for a new Las Vegas casino.

PBL has entered into an agreement with IDM Properties, a Texas-based property developer, and York Capital Management, a New York-based private investment fund to develop, construct and operate a new casino in Las Vegas — named Crown Las Vegas.

This move comes six weeks after PBL’s first foray into the US casino market when it bought a $304 million stake in casino and resort developer Fontaine-bleau Resorts.

Crown Las Vegas will be immediately next door to the site where Fontainebleau is developing a $3.41 billion casino and resort.

PBL said Crown Las Vegas would be operated by Crown Ltd, the gaming company that was to be split from the PBL group.

Earlier this month, PBL announced the company would be split into a gaming business, Crown, and a media company, Consolidated Media Holdings.

“Final details of the design and development of the new casino resort are still being finalised,” PBL said in a statement.

“PBL will be looking to finance its involvement in the development in an efficient and effective manner.”

For its $27.37 million, PBL has secured a 37.5 per cent stake in the joint-venture company LVTI LLC, with the pooled money from the partners used to pay the option fee for the land.

LVTI LLC, which is an affiliate of IDM Properties, secured an option in 2006 to purchase about 10ha of land on the north end of Las Vegas Boulevard for $577.75 million.

PBL said the joint venture had paid $54.73 million to the vendor of the land, with the balance due in 2008.