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James Packer raises $100m through Crown note sale


Gambling tycoon James Packer has raised just over $100 million ($77 million) from the sale of subordinated notes in operator Crown Resorts, according to a filing with the Australian Stock Exchange.

Consolidated Press Holdings, Packer’s personal holding company and Crown Resort’s major stockholder, sold one million subordinated notes for $101.58 each, the company said.

Crown said as of March 17, a total of 1.094,893 notes had been bought under its buyback program, leaving a further 4.2 million notes outstanding.

Packer also received a $489 million in the form of a $0.30 dividend and a special $0.80 payment from the sale of the company’s stake in Melco Crown.

Crown is also scheduled to begin a buyback program for as much as $500 million of its common stock from Monday. The company announced the plan in February to sell as many as 42.9 million shares, or about 5.89 percent of its total issued capital. The number of shares eventually purchased will be dependent on market conditions.

Crown has been taking a series of steps to reorganize its capital structure to boost its share price and returns to shareholders. As part of those initiatives, it has also sold down the majority of its stake in its Melco Crown Entertainment joint venture company and dropped a plan for an integrated resort in Las Vegas to focus on its Australian business.

The company is involved in expansion of properties in Australia and the development of the VIP-focused Barangaroo resort in Sydney.

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