Oaktree Capital Ups Stakes in $2.39B Bid for James Packer’s Crown Shares

Oaktree Capital is determined to help Crown Resorts buyback billionaire founder James Packer’s shares, while nabbing some equity for itself in the process.

The private equity group has reaffirmed its interest in Australia’s biggest casino company with an offer of A$3.1 billion ($2.39 billion USD) in financing. This would take the form of one A$2 billion private loan and a A$1.1 billion loan convertible into new shares.

This deal would allow Crown to acquire Packer’s 37 percent and give Oaktree a ten percent stake in the company.

This is a slight increase on the A$3 billion in funding it offered Crown two months ago as part of a similarly structured deal.

Crown said in a filing to the ASX that it had “not yet formed a view” on the merits of the new Oaktree proposal.

Crown Undervalued

The offer represents an alternative strategy to the two bids also on the table from Star Entertainment and the Blackstone Group. It may well be appealing to those shareholders who are reluctant to sell Crown in its entirety because they believe it is undervalued.

The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and Crown’s recent regulatory troubles have hit the company hard, but analysts predict a brighter future. After all, that’s why some of the smartest people in the private equity sector are currently knocking on the door.

Packer, 53, has been willing to sell for some time. The billionaire has largely withdrawn from business life because of mental health issues and is understood to be waiting for the right price.

Regulatory Pressures

But Packer’s influence on Crown was subject to criticism during the Bergin Inquiry, a months-long suitability examination that ultimately stripped the company of its Sydney gaming license.

Chair Patricia Bergin, a former judge, criticized Packer’s oversight of Crown’s VIP gambling division. The inquiry concluded it did business with junkets that had links to organized crime while facilitating money laundering.

She also criticized a secret information-sharing agreement between Packer and the Crown board that was not available to other shareholders.

Crown is currently facing an additional suitability investigation in Victoria, home to its flagship Melbourne property.

It is also looking into Star Entertainment’s Star Casino Sydney and SkyCity Adelaide, owned by New Zealand’s SkyCity.