Blackstone buys 10% stake in Australia’s Crown
Investment fund has already bought casino group Cirsa and the Las Vegas Bellagio
MELBOURNE. Crown Resorts Limited (ASX: CWN) has been informed that an entity owned by funds managed or advised by The Blackstone Group Inc. and its affiliates has purchased 67,675,000 shares in Crown, representing 9.99% of the issued capital of Crown, from Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited at a price of $8.15 per share, effective April 28.
Blackstone acquisition of Crown titles sent shares soaring as speculation rose of a possible buyout by the investment fund group. On April 29, Crown filed at the Australian SE a Notice of initial substantial holder detailing Blackstone’s holding in Crown. After filing of Blackstone’s purchase, the investor becomes the second-largest shareholder in Crown after company founder James Packer.
According to James McGlew, executive director of stockbrokers Argonaut, it was hard to say if a takeover by Blackstone was imminent. But the purchase in the Australian casinos company “has certainly stoked the fire of perceived corporate activity in Crown.”
There is likely to be more activity from cash rich investment funds like Blackstone in the gaming market as a weakened gaming industry gasps for air after COVID-19.
The investment fund already owns Cirsa, the Spanish and Latin American gaming group, acquired from the Lao family in 2018, and the Las Vegas Bellagio in a sale-leaseback transaction, last November.
