Packer now owns 48 percent
James Packer, former chairman and onetime majority owner of Crown Resorts Ltd., has cut his stake in the company from 53 percent to 48 percent as he continues to reduce his involvement in Australia’s leading casino company.
Reuters says Packer’s private company Consolidated Press Holdings informed Crown in a letter than the boss had sold about 4.8 percent of his shares for AU$450 million (US$340 million) to third party investors. Consolidated Press did not explain the strategy behind the sale or identify the buyers.
The latest sell-off comes two months after Crown announced plans to spin off its international investments, including a $2 billion stake in Macau casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd., to protect its domestic assets, reported Bloomberg News. Crown is also exploring an initial public offering of 49 percent of a property trust for some of its Australian hotels.
Consolidated Press said in the letter that the sale is part of its financial and capital management strategy and added that the investment company supports Crown’s proposed spin-off and IPO. Consolidated Press “remains deeply committed to Crown resorts and is excited about the future for the company,” it said in the letter.
The Indian Express reports that Packer wants to concentrate on his Barangaroo casino development in Sydney and an IT venture capital business in Israel.
