JULIUS BAUMANN

Aviation and Tourism Editor

CASINO group Century Casinos said yesterday it had obtained the last outstanding approval for the sale of its South African subsidiary, Century Casinos Africa, from the KwaZulu-Natal Gambling Board.

Tsogo Sun Gaming acquired Century Casinos, which owns Caledon Spa & Casino in the Western Cape, and a 60% interest in Century Casino & Hotel in Newcastle in KwaZulu Natal for R490m earlier this year after the international group indicated that it wanted to sell its interests in SA.

The acquisition followed a bidding process in which Tsogo subsidiary Main Street 581 bought Century Casinos’ 100% stake in Caledon Spa & Casino and a 60% interest in Century Casino & Hotel, as well as the 40% Century did not own in the Newcastle property.

The deal was approved by the Competition Commission in April but approval from the KwaZulu- Natal gambling authorities for the acquisition of the Newcastle property was still outstanding.

With that now done, the deal will be completed with the final payment of R98,8m to Century Casinos expected to be made in the next few weeks.

Century Casinos CEOs Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger said they were delighted about the completion of the final step of the transaction.

The CEOs said the proceeds of the sale would be used primarily to further reduce the leverage of the company, to develop and acquire casino projects and potentially to repurchase its shares.

The US company owns or operates casinos in the US, Canada, the Czech Republic and Poland, and on board cruise ships. With I-Net Bridge

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Source: Business Day