Though it can't seem to settle on a dollar figure for James Packer's renegotiated Cannery Casino Resorts purchase, this story makes one salient point: A $1.7 billion-plus acquisition could be converted into a 25% stake for $370 million-$390 million. That effectively reprices 100% of Cannery at $1.48 billion-$1.56 billion. Which enables Packer to save face on what is described as an "increasingly onerous deal." Or it could be a graceful way of bowing out of further U.S. casino adventures in favor of a renewed Down Under focus.
A reader writes …
I know that you are a big fan of a high-speed rail system to Vegas, and I do see the need to increase the traffic flow from SoCal to Vegas.
But I wonder if anyone has run the numbers to compare adding an additional highway lane or two (and even expanding any bridges) from the north edge of the LA area to Vegas? And how that figure compares to the cost of a high-speed rail.
Again, I'm not an opponent of rail lines (in fact, my wife comes from a long-line of train-employed relatives), but I wonder where the best "bang for the buck" would come from.
From some VERY basic numbers on the web, I'm getting estimates of about $1 million per mile per lane for highway building in the desert. Even with adding a lane in each direction, that's about $2 million per mile, or around $400 million for the approx. 200 miles from the north edge of metro LA to Vegas. Even if you more than double that figure for bridge expansions, etc., you still only end up with a cost of $1 billion. Compare that to the $8 billion in the stimulus package for high-speed rail (although I'm not sure how much of that $8 billion goes to the Vegas rail, or what the total cost of that project would be).
As you can tell, I am NO expert on this, but it might be interesting to hear from some experts (and who don't have a dog in the hunt).
You make good points, Kemosabe.
