Summary of key businesses
In addition, Crown owns a portfolio of gaming investments that have been accumulated to complement Crown's existing core businesses. These include interests in:
- Betfair Australasia Pty Ltd: an online betting exchange;
- Cannery Casino Resorts LLC: operates four casinos in Nevada and Western Pennsylvania in the USA catering to local and regional customers;
- Aspers Holdings (Jersey) Limited: a casino business in the United Kingdom; and
- Other North American investments: minority investments in Harrah's, Gateway Casinos & Entertainment, 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 resorts 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 has approval to operate 500 table games. The Crown Melbourne casino licence extends to 2033. Crown Melbourne operates one of the largest single-site VIP operations in the world. Its three hotels offer approximately 1,600 rooms, including 31 luxury villas. For further information visit the Crown Melbourne Website.
Burswood Entertainment Complex
Burswood Entertainment Complex was acquired in 2004. Burswood is Perth's premier integrated resort encompassing a casino, two international hotels, a state of the art convention centre, the 20,000 seat Burswood Dome and award-winning food and beverage outlets.
The casino has approval for 2,000 electronic machines and 220 table games. 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.
Aspinalls Club Limited
The Aspinalls Club in Mayfair is a high end London based casino. It is only one of five licensed high end casinos in Londons prime west end entertainment district.
Crown's Associates
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 listed its American Depository shares on the NASDAQ under the symbol Melco Crown in December 2006. As at 31 December 2010, Crown's interest in Melco Crown was approximately 33.4%. For further information visit the Melco Crown website.
Crown's Investments
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.
Cannery Casino Resorts
Crown holds a 24.5% interest in Cannery Casino Resorts which is based in the US and has the following operations:
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The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and
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Cannery Casino, East Side Cannery and Rampart Casino in Las Vegas.
Aspers Holdings (Jersey) Limited
Crown holds a 50% interest in Aspers Holdings (Jersey) Limited. Aspers operates four regional casinos in Newcastle, Swansea, Stratford and Northampton (the latter in a joint venture with Kerzner UK Limited).
Other North American investments
Crown holds a 2.5 percent stake in Harrah's Entertainment Inc, a 1 percent stake in Gateway Casinos & Entertainment, 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.