Crown said that it received the proposal from Oaktree,which would be providing the $3 billion funding via “a structured instrument with the proceeds to be used by Crown to buy-back some or all of the Crown shares” held by Mr Packer’s private company Consolidated Press Holdings.Credit:Chris Hopkins
“The Crown Board has not yet formed a view on the merits of the Oaktree Proposal. It will now commence a process to assess the Oaktree proposal,” Crown said.
The $3 billion tag suggests Mr Packer would potentially offload his investment at about $12 a share - just above the $11.85 per share US private equity groupBlackstone offered in a takeover bid it lobbed last month,which values the group at $8 billion. Crown is still weighing up that offer. Crown’s shares closed 0.7 per cent higher at $12 on Monday. Oaktree and Mr Packer’s private company Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH) both declined to comment.
Crown shareholders would need to vote in favour of a selective buyback of Mr Packer shares,and the Casino mogul will not be able to take part in that vote.
One Crown shareholder said the Oaktree bid could be attractive to Crown by allowing Mr Packer to offload his shares without triggering a full takeover at a time when Crown’s share price is depressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the regulatory fallout following the damning Bergin Inquiry.
However Oaktree’s offer price may not be enough to sway Mr Packer,according to the shareholder,who asked not to be named so he could share his opinion freely.
“James wants more than $12,” he said.
Mr Packer has been looking to exit Crown for several years,negotiating a takeover deal with Las Vegas’ Wynn Resorts in early 2019 and,when that fell over,agreeing to sell 19.9 per cent stake to Hong Kong casino outfit Melco Resorts. However only a 9.9 per cent stake changed hands and Melco later sold that to Blackstone,making it Crown’s second biggest shareholder.