Arctic P yacht set to sail from one Packer to another

Illustration: Rod Clement.

As part of James Packer’s drive to slash personal debt and cut costs, don’t be surprised to see the billionaire soon part company with his late father Kerry Packer’s beloved icebreaker, the Arctic P.

The expected buyer? None other than his older sister and now fellow billionaire Gretel.

The 87-metre luxury super vessel is believed to cost about $10 million a year to run (and even more last year, we expect, when Packer’s now former diva fiancee Mariah Carey was on board).

Packer is waiting on delivery of a brand new luxury yacht, which will soon make the Arctic P, floating off Papeete, Tahiti, surplus to requirements.

Gretel is said to adore the 1970-built mega yacht, which has recently been updated, and is eager to do a deal with her little brother.

She has plenty of money after settling with James a year ago for $1.5 billion over their media baron father’s will. Kerry Packer died on Boxing Day 2005.

A transfer would come as the siblings both prepare to dip into their pockets to buy back the half of Ellerston, their family’s rural property in the Hunter Valley, that James’s Crown Resorts is now selling back.

Crown bought half of Ellerston only 18 months ago for $60m. That’s expected to be the floor price for the buyback.

Packer’s new watercraft has been designed by British luxury boat specialist Redman Whiteley Dixon. It is believed the project is being overseen by Packer’s London-based friend Matthew “Ched” Csidei. The pair were school chums at Cranbrook.

Csidei was once Packer’s housemate in the billionaire’s Campbell Parade home in Bondi. These days Ched lists the tax haven of Monte Carlo as his base.

Aunty in the know

Here’s a stunningly bad development for Seven West Media mogul Kerry Stokes.

Not only is the ferocious Sally Neighbour’s Four Corners cooking up a story — which could air as early as next month — on Seven West’s shadowy corporate structure, it turns out one of the show’s sometime producers, Lisa McGregor, is the sister of former SWM director Sheila McGregor. That’s a handy connection for Aunty’s investigative reporting team!

Gilbert & Tobin partner McGregor spectacularly resigned from the media company’s board the day before it announced its CEO Tim Worner was staying on despite the sordid sex-drugs-and-expenses scandal with his former mistress and Seven executive assistant Amber Harrison.

The aspiring non-executive director McGregor — who specialises in corporate governance — has not explained her eyebrow-raising departure.

McGregor was one of the three SWM directors who, amazingly, only found out about Worner’s “wild man” antics after Harrison went nuclear in December.

She joined the SWM board in 2015, along with former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, telecoms richie Michael Malone and Worner himself.

By all accounts McGregor was furious about Stokes’s non-disclosure.

We also gather she was appalled his board had not stood Worner down as CEO when it learned of the racy claims back in 2014.

And we hear McGregor made it clear to Stokes that she was unimpressed with the efforts of Seven’s chief legal tactician Bruce McWilliam, who has been managing the Harrison debacle and will have a starring role in the Four Corners report.

We understand Aunty’s focus will be on governance issues rather than Worner’s trousers.

That sounds like a tempting opportunity for McGregor to explain herself and clear her name to rehabilitate her for future director roles.

Even if she doesn’t front the cameras, considering the sisterly connection to Liz, team Stokes should brace themselves for an extremely well-informed report.

Rabbiting on

Back to James Packer, who is the star of Monday’s episode of Four Corners.

As Packer and Russell Crowe’s South Sydney Rabbitohs took to the field of ANZ Stadium last night, there was more at stake than NRL first-round points.

Figures just in reveal the club lost almost $3m in the past financial year, compared with a $550,000 profit previously, when the billionaire and Hollywood actor forgave a $7m debt towards setting up the club’s financial future.

At the time, club chairman Nick Pappas said the move put the Rabbitohs in its best financial position of its history.

The shock financial loss comes hot on the heels of news that Packer’s Crown Resorts is pulling the plug on its about $1m-a-year sponsorship of the club. That’s expected to be effective from next year.

Thankfully for the Rabbitohs, Packer and his trusted lieutenants John Alexander and Guy Jalland have no plans to put the Consolidated Press equity stake on the block, too.

Not for now, anyway.

The club — which won the premiership in the glorious season of 2014 — has made no call for capital from its high-profile backers.

Packer’s Mark Arbib and Stephen Bennett are directors for the billionaire on Souths’ board. Former UBS banker Bennett is believed to have recently left CPH, but will continue as a Rabbitohs director representing Packer.

Also at the board table is under pressure real estate agent John McGrath, who has celebrity account Anthony Bell as his alternate.

Bell has plenty going on in his own universe right now — he was back in court this week denying bizarre claims he might be a crossdresser and battling an AVO taken out against him by his estranged wife, Kelly Laundy.

Packer bought his 37.5 per cent Rabbitohs stake from businessman Peter Holmes a Court in 2014. Holmes a Court and Crowe bought the struggling club for $3m in 2005.

It’s believed last year’s loss followed a range of one-off costs at the club as it reshaped its player list to boost on-field performance.

Last season’s poor showing meant game crowds were down, which also affected the bottom line.

With just over a quarter of this financial year left to run, it’s still not clear the club will return to the black by June 30.

Early wins would certainly help. Boys, do the big man proud.