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Crown Resorts Limited is Australia's largest
gaming Gaming may refer to: Games and sports The act of playing games, as in: * Legalized gambling, playing games of chance for money, often referred to in law as "gaming" * Playing a role-playing game, in which players assume fictional roles * Playin ...
and entertainment group that owns and operates two of Australia's leading gambling and entertainment complexes,
Crown Melbourne Crown Melbourne (also referred to as Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex) is a casino and resort located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited, and the first casino of the n ...
and
Crown Perth Crown Perth (formerly Burswood Island Casino, Burswood Island Complex and Burswood Entertainment Complex) is a resort and casino located in Burswood, Western Australia, near the Swan River. The resort consists of a casino, a convention centre ...
. It was listed on the
Australian Securities Exchange Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...
until purchased by Blackstone in June 2022.


History

The company was established in 2007 when
Publishing & Broadcasting Limited Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) was one of Australia's largest corporations. With interests primarily in media and gambling, for the entirety of its existence it was largely controlled by the Packer family. History Predecessors PB ...
(PBL) divested its gambling assets to Crown Limited. PBL was renamed
Consolidated Media Holdings Consolidated Media Holdings (CMH) was an Australia investment company focused on subscription television. History Consolidated Media Holdings (CMH) was a publicly listed Australian company. Its two largest shareholders were Consolidated Press H ...
, retaining all of the remaining assets. In December 2007, Australian gambling company Crown Limited agreed to buy CCR for $1.75 billion. The agreement was ended in March 2009, however, with Crown instead buying a 24.5 percent stake in the company for $370 million, and paying a $50 million termination fee. In 2008, Crown attempted to enter the
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
gambling market by acquiring a 19.6 per cent stake in
Fontainebleau Resorts Fontainebleau Resorts, LLC, is a resort-hotel company started by South Florida real estate developers Turnberry Associates and the Plant family in 2005 after their purchase of the famous Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. The two famil ...
for US$250 million, which resulted in a total loss the following year when other investors withdrew US$800 million financing, resulting in bankruptcy applications. This was one of a succession of similar major losses in
Gateway Casinos Gateway Casinos and Entertainment is a Canadian gaming and entertainment operator. It operates 23 casinos in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. The corporate offices of Gateway Casinos and Entertainment are located in Burnaby, British Columbi ...
,
Harrah's Entertainment Harrah's Entertainment (later named Caesars Entertainment Corporation, previously The Promus Companies) was an American casino and hotel company founded in Reno, Nevada, and based in Paradise, Nevada, that operated over 50 properties and seven go ...
and
Station Casinos Station Casinos, LLC is an American hotel and casino company based in Las Vegas suburb of Summerlin South, Nevada, and founded by Frank Fertitta Jr. Station Casinos, along with Affinity Gaming, Boyd Gaming and Golden Entertainment, dominate the ...
from which a total of $547.5 million was written off.Tabakoff, Nic
Why James Packer attracts so much publicity
''
The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
'' Business, 7 March 2009
In September 2013, the Sri Lankan government gave approval to Crown's then chairman and largest shareholder,
James Packer James Douglas Packer (born 8 September 1967) is an Australian billionaire businessman and investor. Packer is the son of Kerry Packer , a media mogul, and his wife, Roslyn Packer . He is the grandson of Sir Frank Packer. He inherited control o ...
, to invest in
Crown Sri Lanka Crown Sri Lanka was a proposed casino and resort on the banks of the Beira Lake in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was expected to cost $450 million and consist of two 36 floor buildings History In the post-war period, the Sri Lankan government under Ma ...
in the heart of the
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
n capital
Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
. The project was to be completed by 2015. However, when a new government took office, President
Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி ...
cancelled all three casino licenses awarded by the previous administration; including the Crown Resorts project. In August 2014
Betfair Betfair is a British Gambling, gambling company which operates the world's largest online betting exchange. Its product offering also includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Founded in 2000, the business is split ...
completed the sale of their 50% stake in
Betfair Australia Betfair Australia is the Australian operation of the web betting exchange, Betfair. Established in 2005, Betfair Australia operates Australia's only betting exchange under a Tasmanian Gaming Licence. Since August 2014 Betfair Australia has been ...
to venture partner Crown Resorts, one of Australia's largest gambling and entertainment groups. On 5 August 2014 Crown bought the site of the
New Frontier Hotel and Casino The New Frontier (formerly Hotel Last Frontier and The Frontier) was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The property began as a casino and dance club known as Pair O' Dice, opened in 1931. It was sold in 1941, and inco ...
on the
Las Vegas Strip The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard South in Clark County, Nevada, that is known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip, as it is known, is about long, and is immediately south of ...
for $280 million with the intent to build a new hotel beginning in 2015. In December 2014, James Packer signed a deal with Matthew Tripp, which gained Packer control over Tripp's online betting platform
BetEasy BetEasy (formerly known as CrownBet and BetEzy) was an Australian corporate bookmaker offering online sports and racing betting platforms. BetEasy is licensed in the Northern Territory and owned by The Stars Group. BetEasy was the official wage ...
. On 26 June 2015, Crown officially announced that the new $6 billion hotel, called
Alon Las Vegas Over the years there have been several casinos and resorts planned for the Las Vegas Valley that never opened. The stages of planning may have been an announcement or groundbreaking. Asia Resort and Casino Before the Palazzo resort was built on th ...
, was to be located on the former New Frontier site and to open in 2018. Crown announced in December 2016 that it was halting the project and seeking to sell its investment. In 2016, ground broke on
Crown Sydney Crown Sydney (also referred to as One Barangaroo) is a skyscraper in Barangaroo, New South Wales, Australia. Designed by WilkinsonEyre, it stands at a height of with 75 floors, making it the tallest building in Sydney and 4th tallest build ...
and was scheduled to open in 2020, which was planned for sometime thereafter the 14 December. In February 2017, Barry Felstead replaced Rowen Craigie as CEO of Crown Melbourne. On 21 March 2018, James Packer resigned as an executive chairman of Crown Resorts. In May 2019, Packer agreed to sell 20% of Crown's shares, representing nearly half his personal stake in the company, to
Melco Resorts & Entertainment Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited is a developer, owner and operator of integrated resorts with entertainment and casino gaming facilities in Asia and Europe. Based in Hong Kong, the company is listed on the NASDAQ. Originally known as Melco ...
, for A$1.76 billion (US$1.22 billion). Melco is led by
Lawrence Ho Lawrence Ho Yau-lung (; born 1977) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian businessman. Starting his career as an investment banker at Jardine Fleming and Citibank, in 2001 he took over operations at Melco International. Later named chairman and CEO, ...
, Packer's former joint venture partner in Melco Crown Entertainment. On 8 August 2019, the gaming regulator in the state of New South Wales (NSW), the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA), announced that it was conducting an inquiry into Melco's deal for Crown's shares based on new information that Lawrence Ho was until 28 June 2019 a director of a company with which Crown was forbidden to associate. The inquiry will also look into allegations made on a recent broadcast of Australia's ''60 Minutes'' television program. In December 2020, due to ongoing inquiry in the
Supreme Court of New South Wales The Supreme Court of New South Wales is the highest state court of the Australian State of New South Wales. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters, and hears the most serious criminal matters. Whilst the Supreme Court i ...
, Crown Sydney was granted a temporary liquor licence and allowed to open its accommodation, dining and bar facilities - pending court findings expected at the beginning of February 2021; this licence was valid until 30 April 2021 and did not allow for the opening of any gaming floors and/or associated gambling activities in any capacity. Therefore a soft opening of several restaurants, and accommodation facilities resulted in the final days of 2020, with more opening in the new year. In February 2021, Supreme Court Justice findings informed that Crown Limited were deemed "unsuitable" to operate in the state of NSW without significant cultural, operational and managerial change - but that the ILGA would ultimately have the final say; the ILGA report (penned to the NSW Parliament) reinforced these findings, leaving Crown Sydney's gaming operations' debut stalled indefinitely whilst also turning the future of Crown in Australia somewhat of a gamble. The relevant Member of Parliament for NSW stated their response would come after scrutiny of said report, whilst Crown Resorts Limited inferred mutual scrutiny with no mention of when a statement would be released to the public. In December 2021, Crown Resorts within Australia has reportedly just announced plans to premier the gambling element within its new Crown Sydney development ‘early in the new year’. In February 2022, Crown Resorts accepted a takeover offer from US private equity firm Blackstone. The deal was approved by the
Federal Court of Australia The Federal Court of Australia is an Australian superior court of record which has jurisdiction to deal with most civil disputes governed by federal law (with the exception of family law matters), along with some summary (less serious) and indic ...
in June 2022 and Crown was delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange.


Holdings

*
Crown Melbourne Crown Melbourne (also referred to as Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex) is a casino and resort located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited, and the first casino of the n ...
(100%) *
Crown Perth Crown Perth (formerly Burswood Island Casino, Burswood Island Complex and Burswood Entertainment Complex) is a resort and casino located in Burswood, Western Australia, near the Swan River. The resort consists of a casino, a convention centre ...
(100%) *
Crown Sydney Crown Sydney (also referred to as One Barangaroo) is a skyscraper in Barangaroo, New South Wales, Australia. Designed by WilkinsonEyre, it stands at a height of with 75 floors, making it the tallest building in Sydney and 4th tallest build ...
*
Crown London Aspinalls Crown London Aspinalls (or Aspinall's) is a private gambling Gentlemen's club, club, established by John Aspinall (zoo owner), John Aspinall in London since the 1960s. Crown London Aspinalls is currently at 27–28 Curzon Street, Mayfair, London. ...
United Kingdom casinos (100%)


Former

* Melco Crown Entertainment: A joint venture with
Melco International Development Melco International Development Limited, formerly The Macao Electric Lighting Company Limited, is a multinational investment holding company based in Central, Hong Kong.
developing casino/hotel properties in
Cotai Cotai (; pt, Zona do Aterro de Cotai) is a piece of newly reclaimed land on top of Seac Pai Bay between Taipa and Coloane islands in Macau, that has made two independent islands become one island, since 2005. The word (a portmanteau of Coloan ...
,
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
, including City of Dreams and
Altira Macau Altira Macau (, Portuguese: Altira Macau) formerly known as Crown Macau, is an integrated resort and casino in Taipa, Macau, SAR China. The hotel complex has 216 guest rooms and a spa. Altira Macau is the tallest building in Taipa and among the ...
(34%) *
Alon Las Vegas Over the years there have been several casinos and resorts planned for the Las Vegas Valley that never opened. The stages of planning may have been an announcement or groundbreaking. Asia Resort and Casino Before the Palazzo resort was built on th ...
: Resort and casino opening in 2018. *
Cannery Casino Resorts Cannery Casino Resorts was a hotel and casino operator based in Spring Valley, Nevada. It was acquired by Boyd Gaming in 2016. History Cannery Casino Resorts was an outgrowth of Millennium Management Group, a casino management company. Millenn ...
: Operates casinos and hotels in Nevada and Western Pennsylvania, USA (24.5%) *
Crown Sri Lanka Crown Sri Lanka was a proposed casino and resort on the banks of the Beira Lake in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was expected to cost $450 million and consist of two 36 floor buildings History In the post-war period, the Sri Lankan government under Ma ...
(45%): A proposed joint venture property in Colombo, Sri Lanka to be reportedly built through the Lake Leisure Holdings consortium in 2017. *
Fontainebleau Resorts Fontainebleau Resorts, LLC, is a resort-hotel company started by South Florida real estate developers Turnberry Associates and the Plant family in 2005 after their purchase of the famous Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida. The two famil ...
(19.6%) * Betfair Australasia Pty Ltd: An online
betting exchange A betting exchange is a marketplace for customers to bet on the outcome of discrete events. Betting exchanges offer the same opportunities to bet as a bookmaker with a few differences. Gamblers can buy (also known as "back") and sell (also known ...
(50%)


Gallery

File:Crown Casino complex.jpg,
Crown Melbourne Crown Melbourne (also referred to as Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex) is a casino and resort located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited, and the first casino of the n ...
File:Crown Sydney Barangaroo.jpg,
Crown Sydney Crown Sydney (also referred to as One Barangaroo) is a skyscraper in Barangaroo, New South Wales, Australia. Designed by WilkinsonEyre, it stands at a height of with 75 floors, making it the tallest building in Sydney and 4th tallest build ...
File:Crown Perth, December 2017 03 (cropped).jpg,
Crown Perth Crown Perth (formerly Burswood Island Casino, Burswood Island Complex and Burswood Entertainment Complex) is a resort and casino located in Burswood, Western Australia, near the Swan River. The resort consists of a casino, a convention centre ...
File:Crown Macau 2008.jpg,
Altira Macau Altira Macau (, Portuguese: Altira Macau) formerly known as Crown Macau, is an integrated resort and casino in Taipa, Macau, SAR China. The hotel complex has 216 guest rooms and a spa. Altira Macau is the tallest building in Taipa and among the ...
File:The City of Dreams 200907.jpg, City of Dreams, Macau


Philanthropy

The company's Crown Resorts Foundation makes grants to the arts, community welfare, education, health care and the environment. In July 2014 Crown's chairman and largest shareholder James Packer launched a new initiative, the National Philanthropic Fund, to which his family foundation, and the Crown foundation would each contribute $100 million over ten years to support community projects in Australia.


Controversies


Illegal advertising

In April 2016, the company's joint venture with Matthew Tripp, CrownBet pleaded guilty to five counts of breaching laws by publishing illegal betting advertising that offered inducements for NSW residents to gamble. According to NSW Department of Justice, CrownBet "sought to have the matters finalised without conviction in Downing Centre Local Court yesterday but Magistrate Joanne Keogh said convictions were necessary for general deterrence to others in the industry and to protect the vulnerable. CrownBet was convicted of the five offences and ordered to pay a total of $10,500 in fines and also ordered to pay
Liquor & Gaming NSW Liquor & Gaming NSW is an agency of the Government of New South Wales, that is part of the Customer Service cluster. Liquor and Gaming NSW is responsible for the development, implementation and integrity of the regulatory framework for liquor s ...
legal costs of $10,000."


''60 Minutes'' 'Crown Unmasked'

In July 2019,
Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...
's investigative TV program ''60 Minutes'' aired a report titled ''Crown Unmasked'' which made allegations that Crown had violated
Chinese law Chinese law is one of the oldest legal traditions in the world. The core of modern Chinese law is based on Germanic-style civil law, socialist law, and traditional Chinese approaches. For most of the history of China, its legal system h ...
by promoting its casinos to
mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...
gamblers. The investigation, which was assisted by ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
'' and the ''
Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
'' newspapers (which became sister businesses of Nine Network after
Nine Entertainment Nine Entertainment (registered as Nine Entertainment Co. Pty Ltd) is an Australian publicly listed media company with holdings in radio and television broadcasting, newspaper publications and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate brandi ...
acquired
Fairfax Media Fairfax Media was a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines, radio and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax as John Fairfax and Sons, who purchased ''The Sydney Morning Herald' ...
in 2018) and featured comments from former Crown employees, also questioned Crown's relationships with certain junket operators — the middlemen who help recruit VIP gamblers and act as credit agents to get around China's
capital control Capital controls are residency-based measures such as transaction taxes, other limits, or outright prohibitions that a nation's government can use to regulate flows from capital markets into and out of the country's capital account. These measure ...
s — that have been linked to Hong Kong's triads. The investigation also revealed the existence of an arrangement with Australia's
Department of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...
to speed up processing of short-stay visa applications by Crown's VIP gamblers. Crown denied the report's claims, publishing advertisements in local newspapers calling the investigation “a deceitful campaign” that relied on “unsubstantiated allegations, exaggerations, unsupported connections and outright falsehoods.” Federal and state authorities, including the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity and the
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) is a law enforcement agency established by the Australian federal government on 1 July 2016, following the merger of the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) and CrimTrac. It has specialist ...
, have opened probes into the allegations.


Government inquiries

In February 2021 an inquiry by
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
deemed crown unfit to hold a gaming license. Meaning that gaming would not be allowed at
Crown Sydney Crown Sydney (also referred to as One Barangaroo) is a skyscraper in Barangaroo, New South Wales, Australia. Designed by WilkinsonEyre, it stands at a height of with 75 floors, making it the tallest building in Sydney and 4th tallest build ...
saying that Crown facilitated hundred of millions of dollars worth of
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
in
Crown Perth Crown Perth (formerly Burswood Island Casino, Burswood Island Complex and Burswood Entertainment Complex) is a resort and casino located in Burswood, Western Australia, near the Swan River. The resort consists of a casino, a convention centre ...
and
Crown Melbourne Crown Melbourne (also referred to as Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex) is a casino and resort located on the south bank of the Yarra River, in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is a unit of Crown Limited, and the first casino of the n ...
. And that junket operators who brought high-rollers in were linked to organized crime. It also stated Crown used a $2 shell company Riverbank Investments Pty Ltd and another company called Southbank for money laundering. On 22 February 2021 it was also reported that Victoria would establish a royal commission into Crown Melbourne.
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
has also announced an inquiry into Crown and has banned Crown from using overseas junket operators in Crown Perth. In March 2022 the Royal Commission issued its final report concluding that the company is unsuitable to run its Perth casino, but was given two years to return to suitability under the watch of an independent monitor. Crown Resorts responded in a statement released to the Australian Stock Exchange, acknowledging the findings and promising to work with the government to reach compliance. In May 2022, Crown Resorts was fined $80m for illegally accepting Chinese bank cards in its casino in Melbourne. The transactions were falsely classified as hotel services. This fine ensured that Crown Resorts was stripped of its revenue derived from the process.


References


External links

*
Crown Resorts pay $80 million to buy stake in One Queensbridge project
{{Authority control Companies based in Melbourne Companies formerly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange Gambling companies of Australia Hospitality companies of Australia The Blackstone Group companies Gambling companies established in 2007 Hospitality companies established in 2007 Australian companies established in 2007 2022 mergers and acquisitions