GAMBLING INSIDER

Australian casino operator Crown Resorts has announced the sale of a parcel of land in Las Vegas, Nevada for a sale price of $370m.

The sale is the latest in a string of disinvestments undertaken by the company over the last 12 months, with the ultimate aim of re-aligning its business interests. Earlier this month, the company sold its CrownBet business for $150m.

It has been a turbulent time for the operator, who ended their long standing partnership with Melco in May 2017. In June, 18 of its employees were put on trial by Chinese authorities on gambling related charges following their detention in 2016. These employees were later released following sustained pressure from the Australian government in August.

James Packer, Crown Resorts CEO was forced to admit to shareholders at a recent annual general meeting that the company had not succeeded in international expansion efforts, citing the Chinese detention as one of the key factors in this failure.

The 14-hectare vacant Las Vegas site, where the company had previously planned to build a casino was bought by a subsidiary of Wynn Resorts. It also confirmed that it had written down the carrying value of its investment in its Las Vegas subsidiary, Alon, to $200 million, in June 2017.

Crown Resorts confirmed that the company would receive approximately $325m of the $370m proceeds, with is majority owned subsidiary, Alon Las Vegas Resort LLC, receiving the remainder.

The company is now expected to turn the focus of its operations back to its native Australia, concentrating on operations in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.