Shareholders of Publishing and Broadcasting voted to approve the company’s split into separate gaming and publishing arms. PBL, controlled by Australia’s richest man, James Packer, has been expanding its interests in the lucrative gaming sector while cutting back its media interests. Under the split plan, which won 98 percent shareholder support, PBL will house its casino and international gaming assets in a company called Crown...

Melco PBL Entertainment, a developer and owner of casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities focused exclusively on the Macau market, has provided the following update on its City of Dreams casino development in Cotai. Its subsidiaries Melco PBL (COD) Developments Limited and Melco PBL Gaming (Macau) Limited recently received an offer letter from the Land...

The financing of Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd's (PBL) Macau casino joint venture has been restructured as a consequence of the global credit crunch. Melco PBL Entertainment Ltd (MPEL) says it has signed a USD 1.75 billion senior debt facility with a syndicate of six major international banks rather than the original USD 2.75 billion finance deal announced in June.

James Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting has told analysts that mass-market gambling at its newly opened Macau Crown casino is trading below expectations, prompting it to increase its focus on wealthier gamblers. The six-star casino had a strong start with VIP gamblers, with chip turnover rising significantly from last month, PBL executives reportedly said at a market briefing in Sydney yesterday. Crown Macau is the first of three casinos PBL and its partner Melco are developing in the former Portuguese colony. It has only been fully open for business for about three weeks.

PBL'S Crown Casino in Melbourne and its Burswood Casino in Perth will be used to guarantee a bond issue to help prop up the price of listed US company Melco PBL Entertainment (Macau), it emerged yesterday. James Packer's company plans to raise up to USD 250 million (AUD 290 million) in exchange tradeable bonds, as part of a move to to bolster the price of the Macau company, which has been badly hit in recent weeks by visa restrictions being imposed on gamblers by the Chinese Government.

(Bloomberg) -- James Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd., Australia's biggest casino owner, invested in its second Las Vegas development, accelerating its push into North America. The Crown Las Vegas will be built next to Fontainebleau Resorts LLC's USD 2.8 billion casino and hotel development, Publishing & Broadcasting said in a statement today. The Sydney- based company bought a 19.6 percent stake in Fontainebleau last month.

James Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd., Australia's biggest casino owner, agreed to buy gambling venues in Canada for CAD 1.37 billion (USD 1.2 billion) in its first foray into North America. Packer, Australia's richest man, joined with Macquarie Bank Ltd. to buy Gateway Casinos Income Fund, a casino operator in Western Canada, for CAD 886 million, according to a statement today.