Paradise raises $281.1 million in share sale

South Korea’s Paradise Co. has raised 285.8 billion won ($281.2 million) through a block sale of treasury shares to raise funds for operations, or to fund an acquisition, Reuters said, citing a term sheet.
The casino company offered 7.5 million shares at 38,100 won each, a 4 percent discount to Thursday’s closing price.
Goldman Sachs was the sole bookrunner of the block sale.
Paradise currently runs five foreigner-only casinos in South Korea, namely in Seoul, Incheon, Busan and two in Jeju.
As a whole revenue from South Korea’s 17 casinos rose about 7.6 percent to 2.64 trillion won in 2013, driven mainly by visitors from China, according to the Korean Casino Market Review by Kore Co.
The total number of casino visitors exceeded 5.7 million last year, with 2.7 million categorized as foreigners. The number of Chinese visitors continued to grow and accounted for 46.7 percent of the total market.
The Paradise Walkerhill casino was seen as one of the most popular with the key China market.
Paradise is developing a $1.7 billion luxury resort with Japan’s Sega Sammy. The venture, in Incheon, near the capital Seoul, will feature a 500-room luxury hotel, convention center, retail venues and a foreigners-only casino. It is expected to open in 2016.