{"id":170983,"date":"2021-04-19T06:37:39","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T13:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=170983"},"modified":"2021-07-19T02:13:16","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T09:13:16","slug":"oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/","title":{"rendered":"Oaktree Capital Offer Would Buy James Packer Out of Crown Resorts for $2.3 Billion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oaktree Capital Management wants to help Crown Resorts buy out its biggest shareholder, James Packer. Crown announced Monday morning that the private equity giant has proposed funding a A$3 billion (US$2.3 billion) deal to acquire Packer\u2019s 37 percent stake.<\/p>\n

\"Oaktree\"
Doesn\u2019t need the stress: James Packer, seen in the photo above, has largely retired from business life because of mental health issues and has been willing to sell his shares for several years. (Image: The Australian<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The deal offers the billionaire the exit route he has sought for several years and a potential entrance, via the back door, for Oaktree into Crown\u2019s ongoing takeover negotiations.<\/p>\n

Crown is currently mulling an A$8 billion (US$6.2 billion) full takeover offer from Oaktree\u2019s rival, Blackstone. Oaktree\u2019s proposal would value Packer\u2019s stake at around $12 per share, which is just north of Blackstone\u2019s $11.85-a-share bid.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s in it for Oaktree, Crown?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Oaktree specializes in alternative investment strategies, and its proposal is based on a “structured instrument” involving a mix of debt and equity.<\/p>\n

\n

According to The Australian Financial Review<\/em> (AFR<\/em>), if the deal were to go through, Crown\u2019s debt to Oaktree could convert over time into a 9.99 percent stake or a 19.99 percent stake. The former would not require probity approval, the latter would. But it would not require Oaktree to make a full takeover bid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This could be attractive to Crown\u2019s shareholders, as many think it\u2019s a bad time to sell and that the Blackstone offer undervalues the company<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Crown\u2019s share price has declined because of the coronavirus pandemic and the fallout from a damning licensing suitability investigation in New South Wales. That investigation saw it stripped of its Sydney gambling<\/a> license.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the interest of Blackstone and Oaktree hint at a brighter future in which a rehabilitated Crown Resorts, with its Melbourne, Perth, and \u2013 eventually \u2013 Sydney properties, owns the three best casino assets in the region.<\/p>\n

Undue Influence<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A Packer exit could also help with Crown\u2019s rehabilitation with regulators<\/a>. The New South Wales inquiry concluded the billionaire\u2019s influence on the company has been \u201cdeleterious\u201d and had \u201cdisastrous consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inquiry chair Patricia Bergin, a former judge, criticized a secret information-sharing agreement between Packer and the Crown board that was not available to other shareholders.<\/p>\n

She also highlighted his close involvement with Crown\u2019s VIP gambling division, which did business with junkets that had links to organized crime and facilitated money laundering.<\/p>\n

Bergin stopped short of demanding Packer sell his shares. But recent regulatory turbulence is a major reason Packer has been willing to do so. <\/strong><\/p>\n

The company founder quit the board completely in 2018, citing mental health issues, and is eager to avoid stress. Previous deals to sell his stake to Wynn Resorts and Melco have fallen through.<\/p>\n

But will he be willing to sell to Oaktree?<\/p>\n

Not yet, at least according to one prominent Crown shareholder who told The Brisbane Times<\/em> that \u201cJames wants more than $12.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last week, the New South Wales regulator said Packer and his personal investment company, Consolidated Press Holdings, had agreed to reduce their influence over Crown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oaktree Capital Management wants to help Crown Resorts buy out its biggest shareholder, James Packer. Crown announced Monday morning that the private equity giant has proposed funding a A$3 billion (US$2.3 billion) deal to acquire Packer\u2019s 37 percent stake. The deal offers the billionaire the exit route he has sought for several years and a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":170984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOaktree Capital Offer Would Buy James Packer Out of Crown Resorts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Oaktree Capital offer would finance a Crown Resorts acquisition of James Packer\u2019s 37 percent stake in the company, but will he sell?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oaktree Capital Offer Would Buy James Packer Out of Crown Resorts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Oaktree Capital offer would finance a Crown Resorts acquisition of James Packer\u2019s 37 percent stake in the company, but will he sell?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-19T13:37:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-19T09:13:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/packer-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/\",\"name\":\"Oaktree Capital Offer Would Buy James Packer Out of Crown Resorts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/packer-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-19T13:37:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-19T09:13:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Oaktree Capital offer would finance a Crown Resorts acquisition of James Packer\u2019s 37 percent stake in the company, but will he sell?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/packer-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/packer-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Doesn\u2019t need the stress: James Packer has largely retired from business life because of mental health issues and has been willing to sell his shares for several years. (Image: The Australian)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Asia Pacific Gaming\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Oaktree Capital Offer Would Buy James Packer Out of Crown Resorts for $2.3 Billion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Oaktree Capital Offer Would Buy James Packer Out of Crown Resorts","description":"Oaktree Capital offer would finance a Crown Resorts acquisition of James Packer\u2019s 37 percent stake in the company, but will he sell?","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Oaktree Capital Offer Would Buy James Packer Out of Crown Resorts","og_description":"Oaktree Capital offer would finance a Crown Resorts acquisition of James Packer\u2019s 37 percent stake in the company, but will he sell?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2021-04-19T13:37:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-07-19T09:13:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/packer-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/","name":"Oaktree Capital Offer Would Buy James Packer Out of Crown Resorts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/packer-1.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-19T13:37:39+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-19T09:13:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Oaktree Capital offer would finance a Crown Resorts acquisition of James Packer\u2019s 37 percent stake in the company, but will he sell?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/packer-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/packer-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"caption":"Doesn\u2019t need the stress: James Packer has largely retired from business life because of mental health issues and has been willing to sell his shares for several years. (Image: The Australian)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/oaktree-capital-offer-would-buy-james-packer-out-of-crown-resorts-for-2-3-billion\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Asia Pacific Gaming","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/asia-pacific-gaming\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Oaktree Capital Offer Would Buy James Packer Out of Crown Resorts for $2.3 Billion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170983"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}