After resigning as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Wynn Resorts Limited early last month amid multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, Steve Wynn (pictured) has now reportedly sold off the entirety of his 11.8% stake in the American casino operator.
According to a report from the Reuters news service, the transaction comes a week after Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts Limited inked a settlement agreement with former majority shareholder Universal Entertainment Corporation that canceled a previous restrictive stockholders arrangement and is set to see the 76-year-old casino magnate pocket around $2.14 billion.
The news service reported that approximately 5% of Wynn’s former 12.1 million share stake in Wynn Resorts Limited, which operates the Wynn Macau and Wynn Palace Cotai venues in Macau, was purchased by Asian casino giant Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited with the remainder being acquired by a pair of unnamed long-term institutional investors.
Hong Kong-listed Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited is responsible for the giant Galaxy Macau, StarWorld Macau and Broadway Casino properties in Macau and its billionaire Deputy Chairman, Francis Lui Yiu Tung, reportedly declared that the transaction represented an exclusive chance to ‘acquire an investment in a globally-recognized entertainment corporation’ that has ‘exceptionally high-quality assets and a significant development pipeline’.
Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited was moreover granted a provisional license earlier this week to construct a $500 million integrated casino resort in the Philippines while Lui reportedly refused to comment on the possibility that his firm may increase its stake in Wynn Resorts Limited, such as by buying any of the 9.26% stake currently held by Wynn’s former wife, Elaine.
Wynn Resorts Limited and Galaxy Entertainment Group Limited are two of the six firms alongside Las Vegas Sands Corporation, SJM Holdings Limited, MGM Resorts International and Melco Resorts and Entertainment Limited that are licensed to operate casinos in Macau with Reuters forecasting that the acquisition could result in the pair cooperating on future projects.
“Wynn [Resorts Limited] and Galaxy [Entertainment Group Limited] may be looking at collaborating on future development opportunities in Asia with Japan being the critical development initiative,” Vitaly Umansky from brokerage firm Sanford C Bernstein Limited reportedly told the news service.