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Galaxy Entertainment Confirms No Desire to Increase Stake or Acquire Wynn Resorts

The international casino industry witnessed a whirlpool of events surrounding casino developer and operator Wynn Resorts over the span of the past few months and there were several speculations in relation to its shares. Galaxy Entertainment, another major player on the global gambling field recently pointed out that the Wynn Resorts shares it purchased back in April will be utilized solely for dividends in the foreseeable future.

It could be recalled that the very first days of April saw the exit of former Chief Executive Officer Steve Wynn from his own company Wynn Resorts. This, in turn, caused a rapid wave of reactions and consequent moves of other gambling operators in the field. Steve Wynn decided it would be best to sell 4.1 million of his shares in the company he founded in 2002, which led to the market rival Galaxy Entertainment Group purchasing 5.3 million primary shares in Wynn Resorts amid the turmoil.

The price at which the casino developer purchased them amounts to $175 per share, which after the tally resulted in $927.5 million of gross proceeds to Wynn Resorts. The shares amount to some five percent of the overall shares which makes Galaxy Entertainment one of the substantial shareholders in the company. With this unexpected move, Galaxy became one of the most discussed casino developers along with Wynn which had already deserved a daily spot in the news updates.

Estimations Regarding Wynn Resorts’ Future

However, now it has become clear that the casino developer is not interested in purchasing Wynn Resorts anytime soon. In a public statement, the founder and Chairman of Galaxy Entertainment Lui Che-Woo clarified the situation and brushed off any groundless speculations regarding the topic. As it was confirmed the casino operator is not going to purchase any additional shares in Wynn Resorts and will remain with the 4.9-percent stake it currently owns.

He stated that the current largest shareholder at Wynn is Steve Wynn’s ex-wife Elaine Wynn and she seems to have a positive impact on the company as a whole. This is why Galaxy feels confident in Wynn Resorts future success and that it will manage to recover from the reputation hit it took at the beginning of this year. There are also other projects which Galaxy oversees at the moment, one of them being the potential development on Hainan island which could involve sports betting.

That move will call for all hands on deck and the undivided attention of the casino operator. This explanation was needed since immediately after the purchase was made public, analysts began speculating about potential future moves. According to them, the gambling industry in Macau could have been seriously impacted by this purchase.

As Galaxy is a rival casino operator to Wynn Macau, the shares acquired in Wynn Resorts had the potential to make it easier for it to acquire the entire casino operator in the future and have full control over its future endeavors. This new supercompany would have taken a considerable spot in the gambling field of Macau, but as it is known now the reality will eventually turn out to be different.



 Author: Harrison Young

Harrison Young is an experienced writer, who started his career almost 8 years ago. Prior to joining our team at CasinoGamesPro, he worked as an editor for a small magazine.
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