Court approves Blackstone's Crown takeover

The Federal Court has cleared the way for private equity giant Blackstone Group to take over the troubled Crown Resorts business, the last major hurdle for the $8.9 billion acquisition to go ahead.

It is expected that the former HBF CEO John Van Der Wielen (pictured) will chair the board of the Perth-based entity that is ultimately responsible for the casino licence in Western Australia, as well as join the board of the new parent company that will oversee Crown’s assets in Australia and overseas.

The court decision to give the go ahead for the scheme of arrangement agreed to by Crown shareholders, follows approval from casino regulators in NSW, Victoria and, late last week, from the Gaming and Wagering Commission of Western Australia.

Separately, racing and gaming minister Tony Buti approved Blackstone’s proposed ownership of Burswood Limited, which oversees casino licence holder Burswood Nominees. 

Mr Van Der Wielen has so far declined to comment on the role but sources have confirmed he will have a significant part to play. His predecessor in the role, John Poynton, came under fire in various royal commissions focused on Crown, which raised questions about the governance at state and national levels and exposed interference in management and board decision making by James Packer, who controlled the casino owner's biggest shareholder. 

The Crown saga has proved how fraught casino operations can be, with multi-jurisdictional operators at risk when governance issues within one licence-holder spill over into other regulatory domains.

Blackstone has extensive casino operations, mainly in Central America and South America, and plans to add Crown’s Australian operations in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth.

Crown also owns a slice of the high-end global restaurant group Nobu.

Mr Van Der Wielen has worked with Blackstone in the past when he was based in Europe and involved in the roll-up of insurance assets before returning to Perth to take up the HBF role, which he left last week.

The Federal Court made orders approved the proposed acquisition of Crown by SS Silver II Pty Ltd, an entity owned by funds managed or advised by Blackstone and its affiliates.

Crown said it expects to lodge an office copy of the court orders with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission today, at which time the scheme of arrangement would become legally effective.

Crown will also request its shares on the ASX be suspended from close of trading today.

However, Crown’s subordinated notes listed on the ASX under the code "CWNHB" will not be suspended.

Crown shareholders will be paid $13.10 cash per Crown share on the implementation date of the scheme, which is expected to be June 24 2022.