James Packer’s finest hour now looms as final hurrah

James Packer giving evidence to the casino inquiry.

James Packer’s $7bn Crown casino empire is on the brink of collapse in the wake of Com­mission­er Patricia Bergin’s report on the company’s governance failures.

The damning report not only hits Packer’s proposed Sydney Barangaroo casino but Crown Melbourne and Perth because the regulators in those jurisdictions can hardly sit back and watch this game play out.

Crown moved earlier to install former executive Nigel Morrison, who most recently ran the Sky City casino in Auckland, on the Crown board. This would clear the way for him to step into the gap now laid open at the helm of Crown.

The Barangaroo casino was arguably Packer’s finest hour, winning the rights to its establish­ment after a superbly orches­trated campaign win over the NSW government more than five years ago.

That has now been trashed, with Packer seemingly forced to sell down his stake in the company from 37 per cent to under 10 per cent and his hand-picked management shown the door.

Packer’s fragile mental con­dition raises questions over whether he is prepared to fight. He has plenty of smart friends to help plot a revival but right now that looks a distant wish.

What was a personal fiefdom has been exposed in the most vivid way, which will also hurt his support staff, including Crown chief Ken Barton, former AFL commissioner Andrew Demet­riou and others like advertising guru Harold Mitchell, who was on the Crown board .

Assuming Bergin’s report is the final say on the issue, it is difficult to see how Packer can retain control of his casinos.

Myriad questions are raised on just how he can sell his stake or what is a suitable holding.

US-based fund manager Black­stone is the biggest shareholder on the Crown register, with 10 per cent, but it too needs ­approval to increase its stake.

New investors will be unwilling to back the company until its leadership is settled and they know just who will be running the casinos.

Packer had the team to do the job but as Bergin’s report makes clear, they had their issues from the China snafu down, all of which led her to conclude it was not fit to manage the new Sydney Casino.

The problem with the Crown board was its members were seen as being included for past favours or potential favours, and while they may have played by the good governance rules, ultimately they revolved around Packer.

Rival Matt Bekier at Star will be keeping his head down, ­shaking it in disbelief at his seeming good luck.

How long that lasts remains to be seen, because a better rival may emerge.

James Packer’s finest hour now looms as his final hurrah in the Australian casino game — and a business icon is in potential tatters.