By David Winning
SYDNEY--Crown Ltd. (CWN.AU) said Monday it plans to raise around
400 million Australian dollars (US$422.4 million) through an issue
of subordinated notes, in a move to tie up funding for casino
resorts including Burswood in Perth where its planning a major
expansion.
The notes issue will also give Crown flexibility to increase its
near-10% stake in Echo Entertainment Group Ltd. (EGP.AU), which
holds an exclusive right to run casinos in New South Wales state
until 2019. Crown has applied to regulators to raise its
shareholding.
Crown said its biggest shareholder, Consolidated Press Holdings
Ltd. (CMJ.AU), plans to take part in the offer in respect of A$100
million of the notes.
Deutsche Bank AG (DB), UBS AG (UBS), Australia & New Zealand
Banking Group Ltd. (ANZ.AU), National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB.AU)
and Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC.AU) have been appointed as joint
lead managers for the issue.
Last week, Crown said it would spend A$568 million building a
new hotel at its existing Burswood hotel and casino complex in
Perth. The company, controlled by James Packer, last week also
signed an agreement to deal exclusively with Lend Lease Corp.
(LLC.AU) to build a new luxury hotel resort in Sydney.
-Write to David Winning at david.winning@wsj.com
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