Wembley to sell US assets for £182m

THE end is in sight for Wembley Plc after the gaming group which used to own the National Stadium entered into an agreement to sell its US interests for $339m (£182m) in cash.

The deal will now spark a separate auction for Wembley's remaining UK dog track business valued at up to £50m and including the Wimbledon greyhound stadium.

BLB, a consortium backed by the South African gambling tycoon Sol Kerzner, returned to the table today to buy Wembley's Lincoln Park gaming resort in Rhode Island after appearing finally to win support for the deal from the US state's senior politicians.

BLB had originally emerged as favourite to acquire the entire Wembley group last year when it outbid Las Vegas casinos giant MGM Mirage in an auction. BLB ended up with a 22% stake in the group, but subsequently walked away from a takeover.

This was because of uncertainty over whether it would get a long-term licence for Lincoln Park which has been tied up in a high-profile case where former Wembley directors including former chief executive Nigel Potter are standing trial on corruption charges.

With any potential Wembley liabilities in the corruption trial ring-fenced in a $16m account, BLB came back to the table after Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri and leaders of the state legislature indicated they were backing a long-term revenue-sharing agreement with BLB.

'It is conditional and there are a number of uncertainties,' said Wembley chief executive Mark Elliott of the hurdles that remaining in the way of the deal which has a deadline for closure of 30 May. 'But we believe it is a deal that will come to fruition.'

Today's conditional sale marks another milestone on the long road to the dissolution of the group which began with the sale of Wembley Stadium in 1999 and the subsequent sale of the Wembley-Complex for redevelopment three years ago.

Wembley executives have already launched the bid process for its Greyhound Racing Association which runs six dog tracks around the country and is set to make around £4.5m of operating profit this year.

Executives hope it will have an offer for the dog tracks within six weeks. There are hopes that tracks like Wimbledon could be developed into wider casino resorts.

The Lincoln Park deal equates to 674p a share, and Wembley insiders believe that the sale of the UK business will get the total figure to be paid back to the shareholders to 840p. Wembley shares closed 67p higher at 808p.