Terry McCrann: James Packer’s dream of global gambling empire is over

James Packer’s sale of half his stake in Crown Resorts for almost $1.8 billion ends his quarter-century plan to create a global gaming empire, writes Terry McCrann.

James Packer is cashing in his chips. The quarter-century dream to build a global gaming empire — indeed, the global gaming empire — and more critically to separate himself from his late father’s legacy, both business and personal, is over.

Packer pockets just under $1.8 billion upfront in a done-and-dusted deal for just under half his controlling stake. The sale of the other $2.3 billion stake he’s still got will follow.

There is no way Packer — or indeed Lawrence Ho — are going to have a long-term partnership in what is now becoming just a subsidiary element of Ho’s global gaming empire.

Packer is also not going to leave that $2.3 billion as a passive investment in Crown, hostage to someone else’s decisions within their own broader strategic framework. Hostage, to that person’s success — or failure.

The — importantly, money-in-Packer’s pocket, unconditional — sale to Ho less than two months after Crown’s shock revelation that Packer had agreed to sell out entirely to the Las Vegas-based Wynn group was extremely telling.

That earlier deal announced — heck shouted — that Packer was a seller.

That was a huge surprise, even after the long-running saga of Packer’s mental and physical health problems that had seen him not just give up running Crown as absolute monarch, but to leave the board entirely.

The Crown logo synonymous with the company’s casino in Melbourne. Picture: AFP

Thursday night’s deal tells us one of two things.

That, despite the “for sale sign” over the whole company and over Packer’s controlling near-50 per cent stake in particular, nobody came forward or was prepared to lodge a serious enough, high enough offer.

Or, alternatively, Packer so wanted out, so wanted a quick clean unqualified deal, that he was prepared to both sell cheap and to destroy the premium inherent in his controlling stake.

To sell the lot at top dollar would have required a lengthy and complicated approval process — running through both FIRB (foreign takeovers) and the various state gaming authorities.

Plus there would either have had to have been a full takeover for Crown or a further complicated deal to have shareholders approve Packer’s sale.

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PACKER SELLS ALMOST HALF HIS STAKE

He would have been looking deep into 2020 at the earliest to get his money — if indeed he would get it at all.

Packer has always been a master of the odds. That’s what took him into gaming — and to both separate himself from Kerry and media and to also prove himself to Kerry.

Ho’s near-$1.8 billion — upfront and done — was the deal. Packer can now both take his time and choose his options for quitting the rest.