Blackstone bids for Crown casinos

Venture capital giant Blackstone Group is bidding to acquire Australia’s Crown Resorts casino portfolio.

News came through yesterday that Crown had received a proposal from Blackstone to acquire all of the shares in Crown at A$11.85 (US$9.15) each, a premium of 19 per cent on the average price of Crown shares since it released its first-half 2021 results.

The bid is dependent upon the Crown board unanimously approving the approach and recommending the deal to its shareholders.

Blackstone already has a near-10 per cent holding in Crown, acquired from Melco Resorts and Entertainment at $8.15 per share in April of last year. The deal values Crown at A$8.02bn (US$6.2bn).

Crown has run into problems with the Australian regulators over alleged money laundering issues, questioning its suitability to hold licences.

The proposed acquisition would give Blackstone ownership of two major Australian casinos and a new A$2.2bn resort on Sydney’s waterfront. Two years ago Blackstone bought the Bellagio Casino and Resort in Las Vegas for $4.235bn.