Such shares are currently owned by James Packer, with CPH holding a 36.8% share in Crown, the company’s single largest shareholder.

The Australian operator has confirmed that a company on behalf of funds managed by Oaktree, a US global asset management firm, has made an unsolicited, preliminary, non-binding and indicative proposal.

The proposal involves buying back some or all of the Crown shares which are currently held by CPH on a selective basis.

“Any selective buy-back of Crown shares held by CPH would be subject to Crown shareholder approval (with no votes being cast in favour of the resolution by CPH or its associates),” a statement from Crown read.

“The Crown board has not yet formed a view on the merits of the Oaktree proposal. It will now commence a process to assess the Oaktree proposal. Crown shareholders do not need to take any action in relation to the Oaktree proposal at this stage. There is no certainty that the Oaktree proposal will result in a transaction.”