The story
Founded by James Packer on Nov 2007.1
2000s
The company was established in 2007 when Publishing & Broadcasting Limited (PBL) divested its gambling assets to Crown Limited. PBL was renamed Consolidated Media Holdings, retaining all of the remaining assets.
In December 2007, Australian gambling company Crown Limited agreed to buy Cannery Casino Resorts (CCR) for $1.75 billion. The agreement was ended in March 2009, however, with Crown instead buying a 24.5 percent stake in the company for $370 million, and paying a $50 million termination fee.
In 2008, Crown attempted to enter the Las Vegas gambling market by acquiring a 19.6 per cent stake in Fontainebleau Resorts for US$250 million, which resulted in a total loss the following year when other investors withdrew US$800 million financing, resulting in bankruptcy applications. This was one of a succession of similar major losses in Gateway Casinos, Harrah's Entertainment and Station Casinos from which a total of $547.5 million was written off.
2010s
In September 2013, the Sri Lankan government gave approval to Crown's then chairman and largest shareholder, James Packer, to invest in Crown Sri Lanka in the heart of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. The project was to be completed by 2015. However, when a new government took office, President Maithripala Sirisena cancelled all three casino licenses awarded by the previous administration; including the Crown Resorts project.
In August 2014 Betfair completed the sale of their 50% stake in Betfair Australia to venture partner Crown Resorts.
On 5 August 2014, Crown bought the site of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip for $280 million with the intent to build a new hotel beginning in 2015.
In December 2014, James Packer signed a deal with Matthew Tripp, which gained Packer control over Tripp's online betting platform BetEasy.
On 26 June 2015, Crown officially announced that the new $6 billion hotel, called Alon Las Vegas, was to be located on the former New Frontier site and to open in 2018. Crown announced in December 2016 that it was halting the project and seeking to sell its investment.
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In October 2015, Crown acquired a 20 per cent stake in restaurant and hotel company Nobu for US$100 million.
In 2016, ground broke on Crown Sydney and was scheduled to open in 2020, which was planned for sometime thereafter the 14 December.
In February 2017, Barry Felstead replaced Rowen Craigie as CEO of Crown Melbourne. On 21 March 2018, James Packer resigned as an executive chairman of Crown Resorts.
In May 2019, Packer agreed to sell 20% of Crown's shares, representing nearly half his personal stake in the company, to Melco Resorts & Entertainment, for A$1.76 billion (US$1.22 billion). Melco is led by Lawrence Ho, Packer's former joint venture partner in Melco Crown Entertainment. On 8 August 2019, the gaming regulator in the state of New South Wales (NSW), the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA), announced that it was conducting an inquiry into Melco's deal for Crown's shares based on new information that Lawrence Ho was until 28 June 2019 a director of a company with which Crown was forbidden to associate. The inquiry will also look into allegations made on a recent broadcast of Australia's 60 Minutes television program.
2020s
In December 2020, due to ongoing inquiry in the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Crown Sydney was granted a temporary liquor licence and allowed to open its accommodation, dining and bar facilities - pending court findings expected at the beginning of February 2021; this licence was valid until 30 April 2021 and did not allow for the opening of any gaming floors and/or associated gambling activities in any capacity. Therefore a soft opening of several restaurants, and accommodation facilities resulted in the final days of 2020, with more opening in the new year. In February 2021, Supreme Court Justice findings informed that Crown Limited were deemed "unsuitable" to operate in the state of NSW without significant cultural, operational and managerial change - but that the NSW government body, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) would ultimately have the final say; the ILGA report (penned to the NSW Parliament) reinforced these findings, leaving Crown Sydney's gaming operations' debut stalled indefinitely whilst also turning the future of Crown in Australia somewhat of a gamble. The relevant Member of Parliament for NSW stated their response would come after scrutiny of said report, whilst Crown Resorts Limited inferred mutual scrutiny with no mention of when a statement would be released to the public.
In December 2021, Crown announced plans to premier the gambling element within its Crown Sydney development ‘early in the new year’.
In February 2022, Crown Resorts accepted a A$8.9 billion takeover offer from US private equity firm Blackstone. The deal was approved by the Federal Court of Australia in June 2022 and Crown was delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange.
In July 2024, Crown sold its stake in Nobu to a Blackstone portfolio company for US$180 million (A$266 million).
In 2025, Crown Resorts sold Crown London Aspinalls to Wynn Resorts.
From Wikipedia’s article on Crown Resorts, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5