New York, April 29, 2009 – Melco Crown Entertainment Limited (NASDAQ: MPEL), a
developer and owner of casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities focused on the
Macau market, today announced that it has priced its previously announced follow-on
public offering at US$4.00 per ADS following market close on Monday, April 27, 2009
(representing a price of approximately US$1.33 per ordinary share).
The offering comprised a public offering of 18,750,000 ADSs (representing 56,250,000
ordinary shares), and an additional 67,500,000 ordinary shares. Each ADS represents
three ordinary shares of Melco Crown Entertainment. The underwriters have an option to
purchase up to an additional 3,750,000 ADSs (representing 11,250,000 ordinary shares)
from Melco Crown Entertainment to cover over-allotments at the follow-on public offering
price of US$4.00 per ADS less the underwriting discounts and commissions covering
such over-allotments of ADSs. Due to strong demand from investors in Asia and the US,
the size of the offering was increased from the previously announced 15,000,000 ADSs
and 56,250,000 ordinary shares.
A special purpose vehicle that is fifty-fifty per cent owned by Melco Crown
Entertainment’s two largest shareholders, Melco International Development Limited and
Crown Limited, purchased 50% of the total transaction (assuming full exercise of the
over-allotment option), or 67,500,000 ordinary shares.
Lawrence Ho, Co-Chairman and CEO of Melco Crown Entertainment, provided
additional commentary on the transaction by saying, “We believe these efforts
demonstrate the prudent management of our balance sheet, as well as a far-sighted
approach to engineering a long term capital structure for our company that can withstand
the inevitable volatility in the global economy — a cornerstone of our financial philosophy.
This is the correct course of action for us, given the uncertainties that remain within
global financial markets.”
James Packer, Co-Chairman of Melco Crown Entertainment and Executive Chairman of
Crown Limited, added, “The substantial participation in this transaction by the founding
shareholders of the Company, Melco International and Crown Limited, confirms our
confidence in the growth outlook for Macau and Melco Crown Entertainment’s
competitive position within the market. I am convinced that City of Dreams will set a new
standard for casino development in Asia.”
Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. acted as sole bookrunner for the offering. Merrill Lynch,
Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acted as comanagers
for the offering. A copy of the prospectus relating to this offering may be
obtained from Deutsche Bank Securities, Attn: Prospectus Department, 100 Plaza One,
Jersey City, NJ 07311, telephone number: +1-800-503-4611, email:
prospectusrequest@list.db.com.
Melco Crown Entertainment's registration statement relating to the securities offered in
the follow-on public offering was declared effective as of April 21, 2009 by the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release does not constitute an offer to
sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of these
securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be
unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state
or jurisdiction.
City of Dreams remains on track to open in early June and the projected budget remains
unchanged from previous indications to the market. As of March 31, 2009, the actual
cash balance was approximately US$755 million, excluding cage cash, and, as adjusted
to reflect receipt of the net proceeds of this offering (assuming no exercise of the
underwriters' over-allotment option and after deducting underwriting discounts and the
estimated offering expenses payable by Melco Crown Entertainment), will be
approximately US$915 million. Melco Crown Entertainment estimate that as of March
31, 2009 they had approximately US$244 million of remaining capital expenditure and
pre-opening expense budgeted to be paid before the opening of City of Dreams in early
June 2009.
The estimated cash balance as of March 31, 2009 and estimate of remaining capital
expenditure and pre-opening expense budgeted to be paid before the opening of City of
Dreams referenced in the preceding paragraph have been prepared by Melco Crown
Entertainment’s management and are unaudited and neither their independent
accounting firm, nor any other independent accountants, have compiled, examined, or
performed any procedures with respect to these estimates.
Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made
under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases
such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "target," "aim," "estimate," "intend," "plan,"
"believe," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to" or other similar expressions. Melco
Crown Entertainment Limited (the "Company") may also make written or oral forwardlooking
statements in its periodic reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, in its annual report to shareholders, in press releases and other written
materials and in oral statements made by its officers, directors or employees to third
parties. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the
Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause
actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement,
including but not limited to the following: growth of the gaming market and visitation in
Macau; finalization of credit facilities to finance construction of projects; the completion
of the construction of our hotel casino resort projects; our acquisition and development
of the Macau Peninsula site; increased competition and other planned casino hotel and
resort projects in Macau and elsewhere in Asia; the completion of infrastructure projects
in Macau; government regulation of the casino industry; our ability to raise additional
financing; obtaining approval from the Macau government for an increase in the
developable gross floor area of the City of Dreams site; the formal grant of an occupancy
permit for City of Dreams; our anticipated growth strategies; and our future business
development, results of operations and financial condition. Further information regarding
these and other risks is included in our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed on March 31,
2009 and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The
Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement,
except as required under applicable law. All information provided in this press release is
as of the date of this release, and the Company undertakes no duty to update such
information, except as required under applicable law.
About Melco Crown Entertainment Limited
Melco Crown Entertainment Limited is a developer, owner and through a Macau
subsidiary which holds a gaming sub-concession, an operator of casino gaming and
entertainment casino resort facilities. The Company's first property, Altira Macau
(www.altiramacau.com) (formerly known as Crown Macau), opened on May 12, 2007.
Other development projects include City of Dreams, an integrated urban casino resort
located in Cotai, Macau. The Company's business also includes the Mocha Clubs
(www.mochaclubs.com), which feature a total of approximately 1,300 gaming machines
in eight locations and comprise the largest non-casino based operations of electronic
gaming machines in Macau. The Company has entered into an agreement, subject to
certain conditions, to acquire a third development site on the Macau Peninsula. For more
information about the Company, please visit www.melco-crown.com.
The Company has strong support from both of its major shareholders, Melco
International Development Limited ("Melco") and Crown Limited ("Crown"). Melco is a
listed company on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and is substantially owned and led
by Mr. Lawrence Ho, who is Co-Chairman, a Director and the CEO of the Company.
Crown is a top-100 company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and led by
Executive Chairman James Packer, who is also Co-Chairman and a Director of the
Company.
For further information, please contact:
Geoffrey Davis, CFA
Senior Vice President – Corporate Finance
Tel: +1 212 671 1936
Email: geoffreydavis@melco-crown.com
|
24°C ~ 30°C | Fri 
No Comments »
No comments yet.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.