Paulson Adds Bally’s to Hedge Fund Portfolio

John Paulson’s eponymic sidestep monetary fund initiated a new billet inwards gambling casino operator Bally’s (NYSE:BALY) inward the back quarter.

A Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), released Monday, revealed Paulson & Co. bought 1 1000000 shares of the Rhode Island-based regional casino manipulator during the April through June period. That wager was precious at $54.11 million, but is now come out of the money, as Bally’s followed other gaming equities lour o'er the past several months.

Down 11 percent o'er the past tense week, Bally’s inventory trades around $45 at this writing. As for Paulson & Co., the hedge in fund started 11 young positions in the arcsecond quarter. Bally’s is the third-largest, tracking only when get-up-and-go equities Apache (NYSE:APA) and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A).

Major institutional investors, including hedgerow funds, are required to file 13F’s within 45 days of the ending of the prior quarter. But they are non required to disclose the dates on which they bought or sold securities, so there’s no more way of well-read exactly when Paulson & Co. entered the Bally’s position. Likewise, whether or non the money manager ease owns the gunstock won’t be revealed until the firm’s next 13F is filed, which will likely hap inward mid-November.

Bally’s a Departure for Paulson

The 13F reveals Paulson & Co. has near 40 equity positions as of the finish of the secondly quarter. Paulson himself has long been a golden bug, and that’s reflected through holdings in multiple mining equities and a bullion-backed exchange traded fund (ETF).

While several other consumer discretionary names stud the hedgerow fund’s portfolio, Bally’s is the lone gaming equity inward the lineup. Casino stocks have got long been pop inward the hedge monetary fund community. But Paulson hasn’t been overly participating with gaming stocks for some time.

However, Paulson has previously been mired with the industry. The financier, who made billions betting on the subprime mortgage binge leading up to the worldwide financial crisis, formerly held a substantive spot inward Harrah’s debt that was converted into equity in the gaming fellowship that would eventually get Caesars.

In 2010, his duck monetary fund was also the second-largest shareholder inwards the troupe antecedently known as MGM Mirage, and he was also a major investor inward Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD). Paulson held shares of MGM for several years and is viewed as one of the investors instrumental in prompting the gaming accompany to monetize its tangible land assets and spin-off the unfluctuating now known as MGM Growth Properties (NYSE:MGP).

Paulson Plans for Bally’s

It’s not like a shot crystalise if Paulson is angling to follow an activistic with Bally’s. For now, the plus manager potential doesn’t possess enough shares inward the gaming manipulator to use up such a position. Plus, that could put it at betting odds with Standard General — the circumvent fund that’s, by far, the largest Bally’s shareholder.

Ultimately, Paulson & Co. may simply be betting on Bally’s running record of smart acquisitions, an expanding land-based cassino empire, and the company’s efforts to capitalise on the roaring iGaming and sports wagering markets.