A successful divorce for casinos operator Echo Entertainment Group, which was spun out of gambling giant Tabcorp Holdings last week.
Well, yes, but at the end of trading, Tabcorp shareholders were a little poorer for the split.
Tabcorp received shareholder and court approval last week to split its casino operations, and its wagering, gaming and keno businesses into two separately listed companies.
Echo came on to the ASX yesterday at $4.35 per share, jumped to $4.52, then eased to $4.36 at the close, which was its starting price.
Helping the buoyant day (when the overall market fell half a per cent or so) for the stock was yet another report about how James Packer’s Crown could be eyeing the stock and indeed had secured a 4.9% stake, just below the 5% disclosure level.
Tabcorp shares were closed at $3.35, which was a fall of $4.37 or 56.6% from last Friday’s close of $7.72.
That means the shareholder who held onto shares in both companies (Tabcorp shareholders got one Echo share for everyone held) saw themselves a little poorer (by 1c) for the day’s trading.
Tabcorp has said that the separate companies will be better able to pursue their own strategies and capital needs and participate in industry consolidation or other corporate activity.
