Would be second pachinko company listed in Hong Kong
Niraku GC Holdings, which operates 54 pachinko halls in Japan, including several in Tokyo, has applied to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange before the end of the second quarter, a source has informed the Wall Street Journal.
The company, with headquarters in Koriyama City, submitted a draft listing prospectus to the exchange at the end of 2014. The company hopes to raise about $US75 million in an initial public offering, the Journal learned from its source; other reports have the target amount at $US100 million to $US200 million.
In 2012, Dynam Japan Holdings Co. became the first pachinko company to list in the city, and raised $202 million in its IPO. Dynam Chairman Yoji Sato said last month that the Hong Kong listing has enabled the company to “connect with different casino, junket and hotel operators all over the world.”
Niraku plans to use funds from its IPO to open five new pachinko halls in Japan and invest in information technology, according to its prospectus. The company saw its revenue decline than 2 percent in the latest fiscal year after rising 15 percent during the previous two years, reported Yogonet.com. Its home prefecture of Fukushima was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
Pachinko is a moneymaker in Japan, the Journal reported. Estimated annual revenue was 18.8 trillion yen ($US159 billion) in 2013, down from a high of 30.9 trillion yen ($US3.6 trillion) in 1995, according to a 2014 report by the Japan Productivity Center. The number of players has dropped 67 percent over the same period, falling to 9.7 million in 2013 from 29 million.
