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Seeking to soften the blow of its underperforming Macau division, Australian casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd is reported to be seeking to spilt its domestic and international business assets.
The casino and leisure operator, which is majority owned by Australian property tycoon James Packer (53% equity) stated that it was considering demerging its domestic division by creating a new ‘listed property trust’ for its Perth and Melbourne assets.
“We believe that Crown Resorts’ extremely high-quality Australian resorts are not being fully valued and the Crown Resorts share price has been highly correlated to the performance of its investment in Macau,” Crown Chairman Robert Rankin said in the statement.
The split follows May’s news that James Packer had agreed to sell an $800 million stake in Asian casino joint venture Melco Crown Entertainment (MCE), with further reports that Crown’s new executive team were looking to implement a more conservative business strategy focusing on domestic casino projects.
Macau’s continued downturn has impacted Crown Resorts corporate value as the company seen its net debt rise to AUS $2.3 billion ($1.7 billion).
A split strategy would see Crown create a new international enterprise, housing its remaining stake in MCE, with its 50% investment in Aspers Casino, its Las Vegas development projects’ and its 20% shareholding in restaurant chain Nobu.
The company said it planned to hold a news conference on its plans at 08.30 local time on Thursday (21.30 GMT Wednesday).
