SkyCity seeks proposals, plans two NZ online licence bids

SkyCity Entertainment Group is putting itself in front of potential buyers while it gets ready to go online. At its annual meeting in Auckland on 21 October 2026, the board said it will seek proposals for the whole business through a structured process. On the same day, chief executive Jason Walbridge said the company is preparing applications for two of New Zealand's online casino licences.

Inviting offers, with no guarantee of a sale

Chair Julian Cook told shareholders that the board rejected two takeover proposals earlier in the year. He described both as unsolicited, non-binding, highly conditional and indicative, and said the board unanimously found them "opportunistic" and that they undervalued the business. No improved proposal has arrived since, and no new party has made a whole-of-business proposal. The board says it is still aware of continued interest.

So it will now run a structured process: interested parties get access to some due diligence information to help them put proposals together. UBS is the investment bank and Chapman Tripp the legal adviser. Cook said the process "will take some time" and that there is no certainty it will lead to any transaction or offer. The board also set up a Structured Review sub-committee to oversee it.

Separately, SkyCity has started a formal sale process for its Adelaide casino business, after it was approached following a strategic review announced in August. That process also comes with no guarantee of a sale.

Two online licences, not three

New Zealand's Online Casino Gambling Act took effect on 1 May 2026 and allows 15 licensed online casino brands. The rights to apply for those licences were sold at auction earlier this month (our coverage). SkyCity won the right to apply for two, at NZ$15m each excluding GST, according to its 13 October NZX release.

Winning at auction is not the same as holding a licence. SkyCity says it is now preparing its applications. Walbridge said the company chose to drop from the maximum of three licences it was allowed to two, to stay within its risk-adjusted return-on-capital targets. "If licensed, we will be two of the fifteen brands," he said.

His pitch rests on familiarity: SkyCity has run land-based casinos in New Zealand for 30 years, and says its host-responsibility and anti-money-laundering obligations are "similar or the same" online. He also expects a competitive market and said SkyCity will watch "the level of potential advertising" when the market goes live, which he placed in the second half of the 2027 financial year. SkyCity's financial year runs to 30 June, so by our reading that points to the first half of calendar 2027. The company's NZX release on the same day says the timing of online market entry is "still to be determined".

What it costs, and the outlook

SkyCity expects capital spending around the middle of its NZ$80m–100m range for the 2027 financial year, plus NZ$30m for the two online licences; Walbridge put the total at around NZ$120m. It is not giving formal earnings guidance, citing the undecided timing of online market entry and economic uncertainty in New Zealand and Australia. The board aims to resume dividends in the 2028 financial year.

For players, nothing changes yet. SkyCity is not offering a licensed New Zealand online casino today.