Wynn Resorts considering $3 bln HK IPO -report
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HONG KONG, July 10 (Reuters) - U.S. casino giant Wynn Resorts Ltd (WYNN.O) is considering a Hong Kong share sale to raise as much as $3 billion to help fund the firm's planned mega resort in the former Portuguese enclave of Macau, a newspaper reported on Thursday.
UBS (UBSN.VX) (UBS.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) have been hired to handle the transaction, the South China Morning Post cited sources as saying.
But the sources warned that volatile markets, racked by uncertainties over the U.S. economy, may put off the listing in the near future.
"At the moment, the market is definitely not right," the newspaper quoted a source as saying.
IPO's are suffering in general this year amid financial market turmoil, and Macau-related stocks are hurting even more because intense competition has shaved casino profits.
Casinos across the United States, including those run by Wynn and Las Vegas Sands (LVS.N) have become less of a draw to consumers, who have been hit by economic uncertainty, a declining housing market and soaring gas prices.
Wynn's U.S.-listed shares have lost more than 30 percent this year.
In Hong Kong, billionaire Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Jogos de Macau (SJM) raised $494 million in July by pricing its shares at HK$3.08 apiece, at the low end of an indicated range in a deal handled by Deutsche Bank.
The firm had hoped to raise $1 billion in an offering in January, but shelved the plan amid a weak stock market and queries made by Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission regarding the shareholding structure of SJM's parent firm, STDM.
On Wednesday, SJM delayed its Hong Kong IPO by a week to July 16.
(Reporting by Joseph Chaney; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)
