Kerzner, Starwood may compete with MGM MIRAGE for Wembley

Wednesday, March 10, 2004 | 11:08 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Kerzner International Ltd., the owner of the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, and Starwood Capital Group LLC may bid for Wembley Plc to gain gambling venues including six U.K. dog tracks, rivaling a $492 million agreed takeover by MGM MIRAGE.

Kerzner, Waterford Group LLC and Barry Sternlicht's Starwood bought 8.1 percent of London-based Wembley from Active Value Fund Managers Ltd., with an option to boost the stake to 14.98 percent. A bid for Wembley may come after due diligence, said Starwood Capital Europe Managing Director Jeff Dishner on a conference call. Wembley shares climbed as much as 7.6 percent.

MGM, the third-biggest U.S. casino company, agreed to buy Wembley in January to add a big racino in Rhode Island and its first venues in the United Kingdom as the government considers relaxing gaming laws. Wembley owns sites that could be expanded into casinos if the U.K. government ends rules that limit slot machine payoffs and restrict casino gambling to members.

The MGM takeover "always looked like quite a cheap deal," said Colin Morton, who helps manage about 240 million pounds ($435 million) at BWD Rensburg in Leeds, northern England. "Now it's clear other parties are interested."

Starwood Capital is headed by Sternlicht, 43, founder of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., the owner of the Sheraton and Westin chains. Peter Ogden, a spokesman for Wembley, declined to comment when contacted by telephone. MGM spokesman Alan Feldman couldn't immediately be reached.

Wembley's attractiveness to Kerzner is multifold, said Mark Abramson, a casino industry analyst with Bear, Stearns & Co.

More than 90 percent of Wembley's cash flow in 2003 came from the company's dog track in Rhode Island, which is close to the Mohegan Sun tribal casino in Connecticut, Abramson wrote in a research note today. Kerzner has a contract with that casino. Potentially more important to Kerzner are Wembley's tracks in the United Kingdom, which is expected to deregulate its gambling laws to allow more casinos, he said. Kerzner already owns a casino in that country.

"Potential upside from forthcoming gaming reform in the U.K. could be significant, although hard to quantify at this point," he wrote.

Bloomberg News

and the Sun's Liz Benston contributed to this report.