American private equity firm Oaktree could end up owning almost 10 per cent of Crown Resorts under a revised $3.1 billion funding offer to help the casino giant buy out major shareholder James Packer’s problematic stake in the company.
Oaktree made its first approach to Crown in April, with a deal that would see Crown selectively buy back some or all of Mr Packer’s 37 per cent stake.
Mr Packer’s influence over the group’s operations and governance was one of the key reasons the Bergin inquiry found in February that Crown was unfit to run a casino in NSW, which would have to be addressed for Crown to regain the licence for its new Sydney casino.
Crown said on Tuesday morning that Oaktree had revised its proposal, which was now a $3.1 billion offer comprising of a $2 billion private term loan and $1.1 billion in a loan that could be converted to shares.
The loan would be for seven years with a 6 per cent coupon for the first two years, increasing to 6.5 per cent after that.
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The convertible component would give Oaktree the ability to swap the $1.1 billion facility into new Crown shares at $13 each after one year, as long as Crown’s share price is higher than $13 at the time. The stock closed at $12.22 on Friday.
The trade would be capped at shares equivalent to a 9.99 per cent holding in Crown - which is equal to fellow buyout firm Blackstone, which has launched its own takeover bid for the company.
“The Crown Board has not yet formed a view on the merits of the Revised Oaktree Proposal,” Crown said in a statement.