US casino giant suddenly ends buyout talks with Packer’s Crown Resorts over detail leak

Melbourne, Australia - January 12, 2017: An entrance to the Crown Melbourne integrated resort in Southbank.

Crown Resorts is in search of another buyer, after US casino and hotel giant Wynn Resorts terminated takeover talks with the James Packer-controlled group due to details of the discussions being leaked.

Following multiple media reports speculating a takeover proposal by Wynn, Crown confirmed it was in “confidential discussions” with the US company, which had offered to buy Packer’s casino resort empire for $10 billion.

Crown owns casinos in Melbourne, Perth and London, with its presence to be expanded to Sydney next year.

Shortly after Crown’s announcement, Wynn – which owns five properties across Las Vegas and Macau, and is set to open a sixth in two months’ time in Massachusetts – confirmed to shareholders that it was in preliminary discussions with the casino chain.

Wynn luxury resorts in Las Vegas

Wynn luxury resorts in Las Vegas

“No agreement has been reached between the parties in relation to the structure, value or terms of a transaction,” the company, founded by billionaire Steve Wynn, said in a filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

“There is no assurance that these discussions will result in a transaction.”

However, Wynn quickly changed its tune overnight, announcing that it had terminated buyout talks with Crown “following the premature disclosure of preliminary discussions”.

Crown also announced the termination of buyout talks with Wynn to shareholders this morning, with the news likely to spark a bidding war for the company.

Latest News