Packer consortium rescues Living and Leisure Australia

A consortium led by James Packer has rescued the debt laden leisure group Living and Leisure Australia (LLA), taking on 88% of the group after the issue of 2.5 billion new shares.

Packer's Hong Kong based private equity business Arctic Capital, has acquired 49.3% of LLA (a virtual takeover of the struggling group) while Arctic's underwriting partners in the recapitalization, Morgan Stanley and a Goldman Sachs Asian investment fund, Triumph Investments have taken stakes of 19.9% and 19.4% respectively.

LLA, the former MFS Living and Leisure Group, owns Underwater World at Mooloolaba; the Melbourne Aquarium; Siam Ocean World in Bangkok, Thailand; Busan Aquarium in Korea and Shanghai Chang Feng Ocean World; treetop walks the Otway Fly and Illawarra Fly and the Mount Hotham and Falls Creek ski resorts.

Arctic Capital, which is wholly owned by Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings, has also secured management rights for LLA's businesses and has agreed a deal with LLA's former parent, the troubled Octaviar Group (formerly MFS Limited) to take control of the responsible entity which runs the leisure operator.

MFS Limited, a Gold Coast property and fund manager, was a surprise buyer of Australian Alpine Enterprises (owner of the Mount Hotham and Falls Creek ski resorts), in 2004 for about $80 million. In 2006, it sold the business to its newly floated leisure division, MPY for $110 million. Acquisitions of tree-top walks followed while, as of the middle of last year, the Group narrowly failed to complete a NZ $247 million takeover of New Zealand's biggest listed tourism company, Tourism Holdings Limited.

The rescue makes Packer the dominant owner of Australia's ski resorts, the Perisher Blue resort in NSW already being 75% owned by Consolidated Press Holdings.

For more information go to www.livingandleisure.com.au

Image: The Illawarra Fly.

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