|
 |
|
|
|
Hellenic Casinos Co. sells majority stake in Hyatt Regency Hotels & Tourism (Hellas) SA
January 10, 2006 -- Hellenic Casinos Company (HCC), the majority shareholder of ATHEX-listed Hyatt Regency Hotels & Tourism (Hellas) SA (HRHT), today announced it has agreed to sell its 51.57% stake in HRHT to funds advised by BC Partners Limited, a leading pan-European private equity firm, at a price of EUR 11.00 per share. The transaction will take place as soon as the European Commission approves it, HCC said in a statement. HRHT was founded in 1994 and started its Thessaloniki casino operations in 1996. In 1999, it opened its hotel in Thessaloniki and in the same year listed on the Athens Exchange (ATHEX). In 2000, Hyatt Regency obtained board majority control of Lampsa SA and successfully completed, within two years, the total refurbishment of the historic 'Grande Bretagne' Hotel in Athens. In 2003, Hyatt Regency was awarded an exclusive licence for the Mont Parnes Casino near Athens, in which it owns a 34.3% shareholding interest and a 100% management contract. Recently, in November 2005, Hyatt Regency commenced operations of a casino in Tirana in which it has a 15-year exclusive licence, a 30.5% shareholding interest and a 100% management contract. In a press release, HCC said: "During these years of intensive development, HCC has introduced professional management, corporate governance principles, provided assistance and know-how to ensure that Hyatt Regency operates to the strictest international standards of transparency, security, reliability and quality. "The families owning HCC, namely Laskaridis, Pritzker and Theocarakis, are proud to have created over the past 12 years more than 2,500 permanent, stable jobs -- whose future is secured further to the current transaction -- and of having radically upgraded the standards of the hospitality and leisure industries in Athens and Thessaloniki, securing at the same time very substantial revenues for the Greek state. "We are confident that Hyatt Regency is now set to enjoy a period of further development. The know-how from HCC has been effectively transferred and a management team we have full confidence in is in place. "HCC believes that BC Partners is a reputable group committed to continuing to operate Hyatt Regency with the current management team, to the standards of integrity, transparency, quality and service that Hyatt Regency's employees and customers have come to expect. "The Board of Directors of Hyatt Regency wishes to thank Hellenic Casinos Company for the support offered during the last twelve years and for the harmonious and flawless professional co-operation. "It is exactly such attitude and relationship that lead to the success of the company. "The board looks forward to a similar close cooperation and support from the incoming main shareholder, BC Partners, a respected and very substantial Private Equity Fund. "Finally, the board, the management team and the employees of the company wish to assure all parties that they shall continue their best endeavours for future success." BC Partners operates through integrated teams based in Geneva, Hamburg, London, Milan and Paris. The firm is represented in Greece by Nikos Stathopoulos, Before joining the BC Partners team, he spent seven years working on large buy-out transactions in many European countries at Apax Partners, including the acquisitions of TIM Hellas, Tank & Rast, Damovo, Global Refund and Merlin Entertainment. Prior to this, he spent three years as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group in London. He holds an MBA from Harvard University and a degree in business administration from Athens University of Economics and Business. He is a member of the Harvard Business School European Leadership Council and of the EVCA buy-out committee. Stathopoulos is a Greek national and speaks Greek, English, French, Spanish and Italian. About Hyatt Regency Hotels & Tourism (Hellas) SA Following over a decade of continuous growth, Hyatt Regency Hotels & Tourism (Hellas) SA (ATHEX: HYATT), formerly Hyatt Regency Hotels & Tourism (Thessaloniki) SA, is Greece's leading casino operator, controlling more than 50% of the Greek gaming market through its two casino properties -- Regency Casino Thessaloniki, one of Europe's largest and most luxurious casinos, and Regency Casino Mont Parnes, Athens. The Hyatt Regency Hotel and the Regency Casino in Thessaloniki represents the largest American greenfield FDI in Greece. When Jay Pritzker, founder and owner of the Chicago-based Global Hyatt Corporation, initiated plans for the Thessaloniki venture, licences to operate private casinos were not awarded in Greece. Hyatt Regency Hotels & Tourism (Thessaloniki) SA, the Group that owns and operates both the hotel and the casino, were awarded the first private casino licence in December, 1995 and today the Regency Casino is the largest in Europe in square footage, number of gaming tables and slot machines, revenue, and attendance. The hotel is recognised as the premier destination of Northern Greece. The terms of the casino agreement with the Greek government stipulate that the state would not award a second casino licence in the prefecture of Thessaloniki for 12 years and the investors agreed to invest at least USD 107 million and to create at least 900 jobs. The casino commenced operations in August 1996. Its immediate popularity, drawing patrons from throughout Northern Greece and beyond, led to the development of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, a five-star property that set a new standard for hospitality. The hotel began operations in 1999, offering 152 rooms, full conference facilities, and a combination of business and leisure offerings. In fact, a total of USD 146 million was invested and more than 1,450 jobs were created at both the hotel and casino. The company has set its sights on expanding its present operations and entering new markets, such as Albania, where it has recently invested approximately EUR 20 million. In April 2005, HRHT acquired the first 15-year long casino licence in Tirana. Regency International Casino, Tirana SA opened its doors in the beginning of December 2005 and is being operated by a consortium of Hyatt and a group of Albanian investors. The casino operates has an initial capacity of 240 slot machines and 21 tables. Hyatt owns 30.5% of the Tirana casino and is expected to receive a management fee of 3% of sales plus 10% of EBITDA for running the casino. Ian Gosling is in charge of the Albanian casino. At the end of last year, Hyatt Regency threatened to close down its new casino after the Albanian government unexpectedly decided to quadruple taxes on slot machines. One of the most significant acquisitions by the HRHT Group in Greece is Lampsa SA, owner of the Grande Bretagne Hotel on Syntagma (Constitution) Square, the grande dame of Athenian hotels, which went through an extensive, approximately EUR 82 million refurbishment and re-opened in 2003, just in time for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Reconstructed from top to bottom, it features 290 rooms and 31 suites, all of them newly refurbished, and redecorated in keeping with the old Grande Bretagne’s traditional style. These are completed by modern networks and facilities, the hotel's premises also housing three restaurants, two swimming pools, a spa, spacious halls and conference rooms as well as all other comforts expected of a European deluxe hotel of the twenty-first century. The Grande Bretagne, managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., is not simply a luxury hotel in Athens -- it is an institution in itself. Ever since it opened its doors to receive the first visitor in 1874, the Grande Bretagne has been a point of reference in the social, political and economic life of Athens and, by extension, of the whole of Greece. Over the 132 years of the hotel's existence one also observes the evolution of a basically agricultural society -- just half a century after the country's liberation from the Ottoman rule and the creation of a tiny, impoverished country -- through the gradual stages of development leading to a modern State and the creation of an important middle class with a European character. On January 31, 2005, HRHT and its wholly-owned subsidiary companies Stellar Investment Corporation, Vanessa Investment Corporation and Millennium Pioneer SA sold their participation (total 20.1%) in ATHEX-listed Lampsa. In 2002 the HRHT Group in Greece, in partnership with Hellenic Technodomiki SA, was awarded the tender to purchase 49% of the Hellenic Casino of Parnitha SA (Mont Parnes), the only casino in the greater Athens metropolitan area, which for years had been owned and operated by the Greek state. Located one hour from the centre of Athens, the property sits amid a 1,250-acre national park. Hyatt Regency said that it expects Hellenic Casino of Parnitha's fiscal-year 2005 gross revenues to reach EUR 145-150 million compared to EUR 130.3 million in 2004. Galanakis believes that, following the completion of the Hellenic Casino of Parnitha's renovation by the end 2007, revenues will continue to grow and "significantly surpass the EUR 150 million mark". Greek holding and construction group Elliniki Technodomiki TEB SA holds a 14.7% stake in Hellenic Casino of Panitha, while HRHT, which operates Mont Parnes, has a 34.3% stake in the casino through Athens Resort Casino SA, which is 70% owned by HRHT and 30% by Elliniki Technodomiki TEB. The HRHT Group views the current environment in Greece and South-East Europe as one that is very favourable to growth in the hospitality and gaming sectors and is therefore exploring opportunities beyond Greece's borders. George Galanakis and Maurice Modiano are HRHT's Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively. The company has the following subsidiaries (as at September 30, 2005):
Number of employees (HRHT Group as at September 30, 2005): 2,565 INVgr update (January 16, 2006):
<<< Back to INVgr's Special Section on South-East Europe
Advertising
| Guest Book | E-mail | Disclaimer |
