Summary of key businesses

In addition, Crown owns a portfolio of gaming investments that have been accumulated to complement Crown's existing core businesses and to provide for future growth. These include strategic interests in:

• Melco Crown Entertainment Limited: a NASDAQ listed company operating casino/hotel properties in Macau;
• Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Inc: one of the largest casino operators in Western Canada;
• Aspinall Holdings (Jersey) Limited: a casino business in the United Kingdom;
• Cannery Casino Resorts LLC: operates four casinos in Nevada and Western Pennsylvania in the USA catering to local and regional customers; 
• Betfair Australasia Pty Ltd: an online betting exchange; and
• Other US investments: minority investments in Harrah's, Stations Casinos and Fontainebleau Resorts.

For further information about each of these investments, see below.

Crown's Australian Gaming Businesses

Crown Entertainment Complex

The Crown Entertainment Complex in Melbourne is one of the largest integrated entertainment complexes in the southern hemisphere with its casino, hotels, function rooms, restaurants, shopping and entertainment facilities.

The casino currently features 2,500 electronic gaming machines and 350 table games. In May 2009 Crown Melbourne and the Victorian Government announced an agreement to increase the number of table games to 500. The Crown Melbourne casino licence extends to 2033. Crown Melbourne operates one of the largest single-site VIP operations in the world. Its two hotels offer 947 rooms, including 31 luxury villas. A third hotel, Crown Metropol which will have 658 rooms, is scheduled to open in early 2010. For further information visit the Crown Melbourne Website.

Burswood Entertainment Complex

The Burswood Entertainment Complex was acquired in 2004. Burswood is Perth's ultimate entertainment experience encompassing a casino, two international hotels, a state of the art convention centre, the 21,000 seat Burswood Dome and award-winning food and beverage outlets.

The casino has approval for 1,750 electronic machines and 170 table games and the casino licence extends for the life of the Burswood Property Trust (currently until 2060). Like the Crown Entertainment Complex in Melbourne it has an extensive international VIP clientele. Burswood is in the unique position of being the only venue in Western Australia to offer electronic gaming and table games. For further information visit the Burswood website.

Crown's Investments

Melco Crown Entertainment Limited

Melco Crown Entertainment Limited (Melco Crown) was initially established as a joint venture company in 2004 with Hong Kong listed Melco International Development Limited to pursue new gaming ventures in Macau. Melco Crown is a developer and owner of casinos and entertainment resort facilities. It is focused on the Macau market and is one of six companies granted concessions or sub concessions to operate casinos in Macau. Melco Crown's operating businesses include City of Dreams, Altira Macau and the Mocha Clubs. Melco Crown has a conditional contract to acquire a further site for a casino on the Macau Peninsula site.

Melco Crown listed its American Depository shares on the NASDAQ under the symbol Melco Crown in December 2006. As at March, 2010, Crown's interest in Melco Crown was approximately 33.4%. For further information visit the Melco Crown website.

Gateway Casinos Canada

Crown holds a 50 percent equity interest in Gateway Casinos and Entertainment Inc. in a joint venture with Macquarie Bank. Gateway is one of the largest casino operators in Western Canada, operating nine casinos across the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta. 

Aspinalls Holdings (Jersey) Limited

Crown holds a 50% interest in Aspinalls Holdings (Jersey) Limited, a long-established  casino company, whose subsidiaries operate the renowned Aspinall's Club in London's Mayfair and three regional casinos in Newcastle, Swansea and Northampton (the latter in a joint venture with Kerzner UK Limited).

Cannery Casino Resorts

Crown holds a preferred instrument in Cannery Casino Resorts which is based in the US and has the following operations:

• The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and
• Cannery Casino, East Side Cannery and Rampart Casino in Las Vegas.

Crown is seeking regulatory approval in the US to have the preferred instrument converted to an equity interest representing 24.5% of the outstanding equity of Cannery Casino Resorts.

Betfair Australasia

Betfair Australasia Pty Ltd (Betfair) is a joint venture company which was established in 2004 with Betfair UK (The Sporting Exchange Limited) in which Crown has a 50% interest. Betfair is a betting exchange for customers resident in Australia or New Zealand. A betting exchange operates an online market where individuals with differing views on an event make fixed-price bets, effectively wagering between themselves. Betfair does not operate retail premises, nor does it have an on-course presence; its services are exclusively provided via the internet or telephone.

Other US investments

Crown holds a 2.5 percent stake in Harrah's Entertainment Inc, a 4.9 percent stake in Station Casinos and a 19.6 percent equity interest in Fontainebleau Resorts.

Crown's History

Crown Limited assumed ownership of all of the gaming assets previously owned by Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) as part of a members' scheme of arrangement between PBL and its members in 2007. For further information on the PBL scheme of arrangement, see the PBL Scheme Booklet. PBL was formed in 1994 and grew to be one of Australia's largest diversified media and entertainment groups. PBL's core businesses and investments were gaming and entertainment; with strategic investments in television production and broadcasting; magazine publishing and distribution; and key digital media and entertainment businesses. In 1999 Crown Limited, the original owner and developer of the Crown Entertainment Complex in Melbourne merged with PBL.

For recent announcements concerning Crown, please see the Investors section of this site.  Historical announcements made by PBL can also be found under that section.