Guoco Increases Stake with Rank Group
3rd June, 2008
With the profitability of online gaming ever increasing, more and more companies around the globe are getting involved with it. UK casinos and bingo companies continue to witness increasing numbers of players, with no sign of the figures dwindling. Although the competition is stiff, casino companies such as Rank Group Plc continue to make headway in their respective markets. Their casinos and bingo rooms remain packed with players throughout every day of the week. And because there is no such thing as holidays or closing hours online, the profit made from this business model looks set to continue growing.
Guoco Group and Rank Group Plc
Rank Group Plc is a one of the bigger players in the European gaming industry, which principally operates in UK. The group owns some of the biggest names in the market, including Mecca Bingo, Top Rank España, Grosvenor Casinos and Blue Square. Rank now employs around 7,000 people, spread across 140 separate operations in the company.
Guoco Group, an Asian based company, has increased its stakes with Rank Group Plc as indicated in the stock exchange report filed recently. In January, Guoco Group held about 4% of the stocks for Rank Group Plc, but has now has upped its stakes by 46.9 million shares, thereby increasing their voting rights in board decisions to 12.02%.
Guoco Group is based in Malaysia, and is effectively an investment management and holding company. They have subsidiaries operating in several parts of Asia - namely Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Malaysia and also a division in the UK. Their main interests in financial services are property development, proprietary asset management and hospitality and leisure businesses.
Positive Outcome Speculated
Rank Group Plc has recently been the subject of much speculation regarding a takeover bid, when Genting, a gaming company from Malaysia, bought 9.38% of the company in shares in late 2007. This amount then increased further to 11%, although Genting itself publicly made it clear that they had no plans on making a takeover bid. But one can again speculate on the intentions of the Guoco Group, which appears to be seriously considering aggressively pursuing this line of business.
This may well be a good sign seeing as Guoco Group is a very stable company with a wide range of financial services. Some think that the move could further boost the chances of making Rank Group Plc the number one organisation in the gaming industry.
By Chris M
