SkyCity has been criticised by a senior judge after a drug ring used its VIP gaming lounge as part of its multi-million operation, but the casino company defended its systems for detecting illegal activities. Drug gang ringleader Ro Tong Zhou, 41, was jailed for 15 years in the High Court in Auckland yesterday on more than 30 methamphetamine drugs charges. He used SkyCity Casino’s VIP lounge to run the operation, which included the supply of more than NZD 3 million worth of P in two months.

About 60 unionised staff at Auckland’s Sky City didn’t show for work today, many joining a picket at the Sky Tower to protest a pay dispute. The strike began at 10am and was to continue for 24 hours, with staff unhappy at the company’s pay offer of a 4 per cent increase this year and 3.5 per cent next year. Unite national secretary and union advocate Matt McCarten said there was plenty of passion from striking staff and they would continue…

Entertainment group, SkyCity, is refusing to spend significant amounts on its Adelaide Casino. In a letter to shareholders, SkyCity chief executive Nigel Morrison said it was hard for the casino to perform on a par with other venues because of a constraining regulatory environment. He said there was little point investing unless work could be done with the South Australian Government to improve the casino’s business model.

More than 500 people were evacuated from Adelaide’s SkyCity casino after a small fire ignited in a wall space last night. A transformer, situated between the central marble hall and a toilet, overheated and sparked the fire just before 7pm. A smoke detector activated a sprinkler in the toilet and alerted the Metropolitan Fire Service to the blaze. Within minutes SkyCity staff evacuated the building and MFS firefighters located the fire and doused the flames after breaking into the wall cavity.

Sky City Entertainment Group is to raise its stake in the country’s second largest casino in Christchurch, after selling its stake in a hotel there. Sky City has sold its stake in the Crowne Plaza Christchurch hotel to an Australian private investor Eureka Funds Management for NZD 61.5 million. In a separate but related deal, Sky City will raise its stake in Christchurch Casino Ltd to 46 per cent from 41 per cent.

Sky City Entertainment Group Ltd., New Zealand’s largest casino operator, will spend more than AUD 50 million (USD 48 million) acquiring and developing beachfront land next to its Darwin casino in Australia’s Northern Territory. The 5,400 square-meter (6,460 square-yard) Little Mindil site will be developed for outdoor recreation areas including a boardwalk and beachside promenade, Auckland-based Sky City said in a statement today.

The new boss of the Kiwi gambling company behind casinos in Adelaide and Darwin believes he can lure high rollers away from the bright lights of Macau and into his local casinos, a feat his predecessor failed to achieve. Nigel Morrison, the former Crown Casino executive and now SkyCity Entertainment chief executive, told the Herald yesterday the strategy planned to take on rival casinos, including Crown, by attracting big spenders with lavish enticements.

Sky City Entertainment Group Ltd., New Zealand’s largest casino operator, is reviewing expansion plans for its Adelaide casino in South Australia in a bid to limit the cost of the AUD 55 million (USD 51 million) project. The proposal, including a AUD 30 million underground car park, has languished the past 18 months as profit fell at Sky’s key Auckland casino and the company fielded takeover offers for the group.

The company that owns Adelaide’s casino has taken it off the market. SkyCity had invited offers for the casino but now says it will be retained, in the best interests of shareholders. In its half-year results, total revenue at the Adelaide Casino was down 2 per cent, to AUD 62.5 million. The company says smoking bans introduced late last year had an impact, with revenue for November and December down 8 per cent.

New Zealand casino operator SkyCity Entertainment is not the only one having problems finding a suitor who can secure finance. The US gambling giant Harrah’s Entertainment is having similar problems with a private equity bid for its business. It is believed the same suitor – TPG and Apollo Management – was involved in both deals. The groups were running the ruler over SkyCity but baulked when it came to securing finance in December.

Sky City put itself up for sale in September after poor results and earlier this month said there was a potential bidder, but it was seeking finance to make an offer. Reuters says the bidder is believed to be private equity fund TPG. Higher global credit costs have delayed or ended possible takeover deals, particularly by private equity firms.

Auckland’s SkyCity Casino has been forced to tighten controls on potential problem gamblers in a move which the Problem Gambling Foundation says should cut the casino’s profits. SkyCity, the country’s fifth-biggest listed company, invited bids for the company in September after its net profit dropped 18 per cent to NZD 98 million in the year to June, but failed to find a buyer before its annual meeting last week.