Gaming mogul Packer retreats from Japan plans

SYDNEY - Tycoon James Packer Monday said plans for gaming empire Crown to expand into the lucrative Japanese market were "off the table" as the company focuses on developing a flagship Sydney casino.

The Australian billionaire outlined his interest several years ago in building a resort-casino in Japan to tap the country's love of gambling.

But the firm is now pursuing a restructure amid a Chinese gambling crackdown, exiting its holding in Melco Resorts in Macau this year and shelving plans for a Las Vegas casino.

Packer said he did not want management "distracted" by participating in any competitive bidding process to build an integrated resort in Japan, should a casino license become available in Yokohama.

"There isn't a great opportunity to get back into Vegas. And there isn't an opportunity to get back into Macau. I don't want our management to be distracted," he told The Australian newspaper.

"People talk to me about Japan. I don't believe it is realistic for us to win a license in Japan."

Asked if that meant a Crown resort in Japan was off the table, Packer replied: "It is off my table. But I am only one director and I haven’t had the conversation with the board.

"I am not saying 'no forever', but what I am saying 'no' to is writing a Aus$500 million or Aus$1 billion cheque to go into Japan next week."

Japan has long been viewed as the Holy Grail of Asian gaming because of its wealthy population, proximity to China and appetite for other forms of legal gambling, including horse racing and pachinko, a slot machine-style game.

The newspaper said the international casino industry was still waiting to see a formal bill setting out the main principles under which Japan's casino industry would be run.

Crown is undergoing a revamp after 19 current and former employees were held for 10 months in China on charges of luring rich Chinese to Australia. They were released in August.

The case hurt Crown's high roller revenues, with anti-corruption laws in China banning organising gambling activities overseas for wealthy Chinese.

The company is now focusing on its casinos in Melbourne and Perth and developing a Aus$2.4 billion ($1.9 billion) gaming resort in Sydney which Packer called the "most important building built in Australia for a long time".

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Billionaire fined over wild street brawl

SYDNEY - Australian police fined billionaire gaming mogul James Packer and his friend, television executive David Gyngell, A$500 ($470) each on Friday after a wild street brawl in Sydney's world-famous beachside suburb of Bondi.

Photographs of the fight between Crown Resorts Ltd Executive Chairman Packer and David Gyngell, chief executive of Nine Entertainment Group, last Sunday were published around the world.

Packer was left with a black eye and media reported associates were instructed After the fight to look on the kerbside for lost teeth.

New South Wales state police said in a statement officers had issued a 46-year-old man and a 48-year-old man - identified by media as Packer and Gyngell - with the notices for "offensive behaviour" that occurred on Sunday afternoon.

Packer has won initial approval to build a A$1 billion ($937.3 million) luxury hotel complex with a VIP gaming licence in Sydney, pending the outcome of a probity inquiry. Any criminal convictions could complicate his expansion plans.

The fine will stand but no criminal conviction will be recorded if neither of the men contests the notice, police said.

The maximum possible penalty if the charges were contested would be three months in jail.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com