Privatization Talks
That sale revived speculation that Packer was preparing to buy back some gaming assets in Australia. Last year he held talks with private-equity firms and pension funds about a possible buyout of Crown assets, people with knowledge of the matter said in December.
Rankin said Wednesday that Crown has “great faith in the long-term development of the Macau market.”
Crown, which has a market value of A$8.2 billion ($6 billion), said as well that it will explore a potential initial public offering of 49 percent of a property trust that would hold its Australian hotels, apart from Crown Towers Melbourne.
Crown Resorts is working with Deutsche Bank AG, Morgan Stanley and UBS Group AG on the proposed property trust IPO, according to people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. A representative for Crown Resorts said she couldn’t immediately comment.
At the same time, Crown plans to implement immediately a policy to return all of its net income to shareholders through dividend payments, the company said.