Packer plotting return to Vegas

James Packer, chairman of Australia’s Crown Resorts, is planning a return to Las Vegas with a Strip resort on land once occupied by the New Frontier Hotel & Casino. Bloomberg reports that Packer has bought a piece of a loan backed by the property and is in negotiations with other creditors including the Oaktree Capital Group, though no deal has yet been reached and talks could still fall through. Packer has ambitions for Crown to be a major international player in gaming and, having lost money in the USA on badly timed investments with Fontainebleau Resorts LLC and Cannery Casino Resorts LLC during the 2008 credit crisis, is keen to return to Las Vegas. Matt Williams, head of equities at Perpetual Ltd which owns 5 percent of Crown, told Bloomberg, “Crown is a great brand and if it’s going to be a major international player in gaming then it really does need to be in Las Vegas in some way, shape or form.” 

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