Packer's Crown sells out of Echo

James Packer's casino company Crown Limited has announced it has sold all its shares in the parent company of The Star casino, Echo Entertainment.

Crown sold its 82.6 million shares for $264 million, or $3.20 each.

News of the sale pushed Echo's share price down more than 10 per cent to $3.08 by 11:10am (AEST).

In a statement to the stock exchange, Crown says it wants to pursue its own proposal for a six-star hotel and casino at Barangaroo in Sydney without speculation surrounding its stake in Echo Entertainment.

Echo Entertainment owns Sydney's The Star casino.

The move comes two weeks after the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority gave Mr Packer the green light to increase his stake in Echo from 10 per cent to as much as 23 per cent.

Crown has lodged a proposal to develop the Crown Sydney Hotel Resort at Barangaroo under the New South Wales Government's unsolicited proposal process.

Echo Entertainment's existing agreement limits NSW to one casino licence until 2019, but the company has put forward its own unsolicited proposal to extend that arrangement.

The NSW Government is assessing both plans, and Crown and Echo have until June 21 to complete them.

Source: ABC News, 24 May 2013