Crown has been forced to delay a vote on its takeover by Blackstone.Credit:Chris Hopkins
Blackstone and Crown had set an aggressivetimetable for the $8.9 billion takeover deal,which some industry observers doubted could be achieved,and scheduled a shareholder vote for April 29.
Crown said it had decided to push that vote back to May 20,with the scheme of arrangement now set to be implemented on June 2.
A Blackstone spokeswoman said the New York-based firm “continues to work constructively with regulators in relation to this transaction” and looked forward to bringing its industry expertise to Australia.
Blackstone,the world’s largest alternative asset manager with $US881 billion ($1.2 trillion) in assets under management,owns casinos in Las Vegas and Latin America.
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The firm needs regulator approval in each state where Crown has casinos - Victoria,NSW and Western Australia - and the Northern Territory,where its online wagering business BetFair is registered.
It is not clear if Blackstone has received clearance in any of the four jurisdictions. However,the chair of NSW’s Independent Liquor&Gaming Authority (ILGA),Philip Crawford,said in February that the watchdog’s assessment was almost complete and had not found anything that would stop Blackstone from taking control of Crown.