Privatisation not much of a gamble
WAGERING firm Tabcor has favourable odds in its bid to attract Asian investors to its A$810 million (about HK$4.6 billion) privatisation issue.
''Asians understand wagering operations because they have similar ventures here in Hong Kong and Malaysia,'' said Centaurus Corporate Finance executive Tim Antonie. Centaurus has been consulting the Victoria state government on the issue.
Formerly owned by Victoria, Tabcor is just one of the privatisation schemes the government is considering in its push for macroeconomic reforms.
Tabcor figures 30 per cent of the investment will come from offshore, with 10 per cent expected from Hong Kong and Singapore. They are the only Asian venues on its nine-city promotional tour.
The public offer opened last week at $2.70 and will close on August 5.
The four-day institutional offer starts on August 8.
Should the determined price be lower than $2.70, individual shareholders will receive a refund.
''Gambling is one of the few growing industries in the world,'' said Tabcor managing director Ross Wilson.
''In Australia, it had a real compound growth of 6.9 per cent for the first five years. Gaming had a real growth of just 13 per cent.'' Mr Antonie said: ''The government wants to expand the infrastructure through privatisation. Totalisator Agency Board of Victoria (TAB) was the first to go.
''It is also looking at gas, utilities, light and water, all within the next five years. They're even thinking about privatising prisons.'' Gamblers in Australia lost $5.9 billion to the gaming industry last year.
Total turnover from one year (1992 to 1993) for the industry was $37 billion, representing 10 per cent of Australia's gross domestic product.
