Genting Stanley partnership has proved a good bet

IT’S a fair bet that Malaysian company Genting is not a household name in Merseyside.

But, under its previous identity of Stanley Leisure, it was one of Merseyside’s best-known names.

Stanley was until its takeover a FTSE 250 listed company. It sold its chain of UK betting shops, including 125 in Merseyside and Cheshire, to rival William Hill in a £504m deal in 2005.

Genting’s links with Stanley began in 2005 when the two companies teamed up to look at the opportunities for new casinos under the 2005 Gambling Act.

Genting built up its stake in Stanley to 20% before agreeing a takeover deal with the company’s management.

Stanley Leisure was last year renamed Genting Stanley. Its headquarters has moved to Birmingham, but it still employs 27 people from its finance and IT divisions in Liverpool’s Stanley House.

It has four venues in Merseyside – the new Circus in Queen Square, which opened in December, Mint in Renshaw Street, Liverpool city centre, a Mint in Birkenhead and a Mint in Southport.

Genting Stanley is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Genting International, a Singapore-listed company with a market capitalisation of over £2bn. It is the Genting group’s overseas investment arm, with projects currently including a £1.5bn casino and resort complex in Singapore.

Genting International’s parent company is the £3.6bn Genting Berhad group, based in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The group is Malaysia’s largest multinational, with other ventures including the Genting Highlands Resort hotel, theme park, gambling and leisure complex outside Kuala Lumpur. It also produces palm oil and has interests in oil and gas exploration in Asian waters.

Source