Ex-CEO Morrison cashing out
SkyCity Entertainment has no plan to sell off its Darwin casino in the Top End section of the Northern Territories. But acting General Manager Callum Mallett said that could change if the company gets an offer that “too good to be true,” according to NT News.
The Australian Financial Review recently reported that the SkyCity Darwin Hotel and Resort was up for sale. AFR said the company “approached strategic investors in March to gauge market interest in a handful of its assets including its underperforming Darwin casino, one of its Auckland hotels and several car park facilities.”
“I am unaware of any decision or thoughts by the company to sell, and all you could go on was the decisions made by the chairman in the press,” Mallett said. “If an offer was too good to be true, that would be a decision the board would need to make.”
He added that the rumors may have originated with the resignation of former Chief Executive Nigel Morrison. According to the New Zealand Business Day, Morrison was cashing in some of his shares ahead of his departure; the New Zealand Stock Exchange recorded that Morrison sold 100,000 shares, about 10 percent of his holdings, for $470,200.
“It’s not unusual for a CEO to sell some or even all of their shares when they move on,” Craigs Investment Partners analyst Mark Lister told NT News. “Some choose to maintain a holding in the business, others if they leave in acrimonious circumstances, then they often sell up and move on more quickly, but sometimes they just simply have other ventures they’d like to follow. It’s hard to know.”
