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James Packer’s Crown Resorts retreats from China
Perth Crown Towers
With 18 Crown employees under arrest in China, James Packer’s Crown Resorts is selling off its stake in China.
The casino operator has decided to sell a portion of its shares in Macau operator Melco Crown back to joint venture partner Lawrence Ho for $1.6 billion.
It will put the rest of its Melco stake on the market.
The company announced it would also abandon its La Vegas casino project.
And it has decided not to proceed with the planned demerger of its international investments.
The plan is to cut debt by about $800 million and return funds to shareholders.
This will see a special distribution to shareholders of $500 million and a share buy-back of $300 million.
Crown Resorts chairman Robert Rankin said the changes were “strategic and for the long term and will underpin the company’s future over the next decade.”
“Today’s announcement will maximise value for the benefit of all Crown Resorts shareholders, allowing us to redeploy capital to fund high quality growth projects as as adopting a number of capital management initiatives,” Mr Rankin said.
“Crown Resorts has a strong portfolio of future projects, anchored by Crown Sydney, and including our online and wagering platforms.”
Perth Crown Towers
A separate company will own some of the Crown Resorts’ international investments.
It will provide exposure to the gaming markets of Macau, Las Vegas and the UK, plus a 20 per cent interest in Nobu restaurants.
Speaking at the opening of Crown’s new $645 million hotel in Perth last night, Crown Hotels chief operating officer for hotels, retail, food and beverage, Peter Crinis, hosed down talk of any impact that the China arrests would have on the company’s planned $2 billion Sydney casino and hotel at Barangaroo.
That venue is being pitched as a drawcard for Asian high-rollers coming to Sydney, in particular from China.
“This is a 380-room hotel in Sydney with views of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge,” Mr Crinis told The Australian. “Having worked at the Park Hyatt in the 90s, I would be confident filling that hotel with a variety of clientele from a variety of markets.”
by Leon Gettler, December 15th 2016
