Each week, CasinoBeats breaks down the numbers behind some of the industry’s most interesting stories. This week we take a look at Canadian job-cuts, a bid to take Resorts World Catskills private and the UK National Lottery licence competition.
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Kien Huat, the family trust controlled by Genting chairman KT Lim, has outlined its intention to take Resorts World Catskills private, after filing paperwork outlining intent to acquire the remaining unaffiliated shares of Empire Resorts.
The special committee of the property’s board of directors has confirmed the receipt of a letter from its controlling stakeholder, as the gaming magnate, who currently owns 86 per cent of the organisation, stresses a strong belief that this will ensure a “bright future” for the entity.
Lim has stated that he plans to start discussions with potential financing sources to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the company, in order to protect the thousands of union jobs that have been created at the facility, as well as meeting increasing economic challenges.
Furthermore, in addition to protecting the 1,600 jobs currently at Resorts World Catskills, Sullivan County’s largest employer, Lim and Kien Huat plan to potentially expand operations into Orange County, creating an additional 300 jobs.
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The UK Gambling Commission has appointed independent financial advisory group Rothschild & Co as lead financial advisor for the fourth National Lottery licence competition.
The organisation joins EY, who are supporting the commercial and competition design, Deloitte, who are charged with policy development and licence design, and Hogan Lovells, who are the Commission’s external legal advisors, to pick the operator of the National Lottery.
Current incumbent Camelot, whose right to operate expires in 2023, is expected to face fierce competition to hold on to the monopoly, which the UKGC states will remain in place as appointing a single licensee “is considered the best way to serve the National Lottery and returns to good causes”.
Rothschild is charged with delivering the competition and engaging interested parties ahead of the official launch of the competition in early next year.
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Unifor, Canada’s largest union in the private sector, has expressed outrage at British Columbia-based Gateway Casinos as the firm continues job cuts.
The union, which represents 315,000 works “in every major area of the economy” with a membership of 8,700 in the casino industry, has continued to lament the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation’s decision to grant control of its central gaming bundle to Gateway last year.
Coming as part of the OLG’s land-based gaming modernisation the bundle was the seventh in the region to transition to a service provider, and saw the firm gain day-to-day operation of Casino Rama Resort on Chippewas of Rama First Nation’s Land and OLG Slots at Georgian Downs in Innisfil, which was later renamed Gateway Casinos Innisfil.
The latest strand of jobs cuts concerns the former of the two properties, where layoffs include 65 full-time and five part-time Casino Rama workers.
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US comedian Doug Stanhope has taken to social media to claim that, following a one-star review of Caesars Entertainment’s Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, he is now banned from every property in the firm’s portfolio.
Writing about the incident on Twitter, Stanhope stresses a belief that the certified latter, that is yet to be confirmed as legitimate, comes after a review left on TripAdvisor and Yelp.
A section of February’s one-star critique, rated as such “because who reads a two-star review,” states: “The rumor is that this hotel is about to be torn down. Staying here will make an ardent atheist pray that this is true. You can even see it in the eyes of the employees. As friendly as they are, you can tell that nobody wants to be here.”
