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re: melco pbl entertainment JAMES Packer's Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd has invested roughly $380 million in its Asian casino joint venture, Melco PBL Entertainment, over the past two years.

Yesterday, that investment was worth $4 billion, based on the price its shares garnered ahead of a listing on the US Nasdaq market listing this morning, Sydney time.

PBL and Melco, which is run by Lawrence Ho, the son of controversial Macau casino king Stanley Ho, said yesterday they sold 60.25 million shares in the joint venture to investors for $US19 apiece.

Their bankers are also expected to take up the option to buy an extra 9.04 million shares at the issue price, leaving PBL and Melco with stakes in the company of just above 41 per cent each.

The Nasdaq float will raise a bigger than expected $US1.3 billion ($1.66 billion), which is to be used to pay down debt and help pay for the building of three casinos in Macau. It also finally puts a number on what the joint venture company is worth according to the market: $9.8 billion.

All up, Melco PBL is spending $US3.3 billion on the three casino developments, the first of which, Crown Macau, is set to open mid-next year. It includes a 36-storey tower, 220 gaming tables, more than 500 machines and a luxury hotel. It is expected to cost $US512.6 million to build.

But it is dwarfed by Melco PBL's City of Dreams development on the Cotai strip, which is expected to open at the end of 2008.

The underwater casino and four luxury hotels, one of those associated with the "Hard Rock" chain, is expected chalk up construction costs of $US2.1 billion. A third casino will open in mid-2009 on the Macau Peninsula. The cost of building all three projects has almost doubled from initial estimates.

But analysts are bullish about the prospects for Macau, which this year overtook Las Vegas in terms of gaming revenue.

Investors said the value the market was placing on the joint venture showed why Mr Packer had focused the group on gaming rather than media.

"Return on equity in gaming is much higher than it is in media," said Atul Lele, a fund manager with White Funds Management.

"This is a great outcome for PBL. It isn't fully accounted for in people's numbers yet so you might see some analyst upgrades."

PBL shares closed 2c higher at $21.85 on the Australian exchange yesterday.