PBL Buys Vegas Resort

[Thomas]

MEDIA and gaming giant Publishing & Broadcasting has made its first foray into the United States casino market, buying a $US250 million ($A300.9 million) stake in a Las Vegas resort.

PBL said yesterday it would buy a 19.6 per cent interest in Fontainebleau Resorts, the developer of a major new casino and resort property on the Las Vegas Strip and the owner of the Fontainebleau Resort in Miami Beach.

"This transaction provides PBL Gaming with a first-class entrance into the US casino resort market, in particular, the renowned Las Vegas Strip," PBL executive chairman James Packer said.

Fontainebleau was co-founded in 2005 by Jeffrey Soffer, a principal of real estate developer Turnberry Associates, and Glenn Schaeffer, former president and chief financial officer of Mandalay Resort Group.