Former Crown Resorts owner James Packer said in an interview that he will never again invest in casinos or China. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Bouncing back

Former Crown Resorts owner James Packer has resurfaced following his fall from grace. In a lengthy interview with news media outlet The Nightly, the 56-year-old revealed that he will never do business in China again or invest in casinos.

had to sell his 37% stake in Crown Resorts

Packer had to sell his 37% stake in Crown Resorts to the Blackstone Group in 2022 for AU$3.4bn (US$2.2bn) following extensive revelations about the company’s operations.

Multiple inquiries into the casino firm highlighted major failings across its Australian properties, including money laundering, shady relationships with triad-linked junkets in Asia, and employees getting arrested for illegally promoting gambling in mainland China. Packer did not attend board meetings for over three years.

Adamant in his views

Talking about Crown’s struggles, Packer said the company “did things that it shouldn’t have done and I apologize for that.” He shipped some of the blame to governments for changing tax rates and breaking contracts, which is why he no longer wants to get into a heavily regulated industry again.

Speaking about China, he believes that its economic climate isn’t what it was 15 years ago. He thinks that the country is experiencing significant issues with growth and that not many people are willing to invest big money into the region anymore.

He is still very proud about the development of the Crown Sydney casino resort which opened in 2021 after a AU$2.2bn (US$1.4bn) investment. It was unable to offer gambling for more than 18 months due to the company’s issues. Packer owns an apartment at the property and intends to spend more time in the country going forward.

Crown overcoming its issues

Crown Resorts is now working to meet the remediation standards that regulators have required for it to continue operating casinos. Its financial results are not publicly available anymore since its new owner took the company private, so it is hard to know how the business itself is performing.

James Packer is the grandson of media mogul Frank Packer and inherited Consolidated Press Holdings, as well as investments in other companies like Crown Resorts.

Blackstone subsequently admitted that its task to turn the company around was a lot bigger than it envisioned when taking over. Crown avoided another scandal recently when its CEO was cleared of any wrongdoing after allowing banned patrons to enter the Crown Sydney casino.