In April, as the embattled casino giant continued to deal with the fallout from the damning NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority inquiry into money laundering at its Melbourne and Perth casinos, Oaktree offered up to $3bn to Crown so it could buy back some or all of the 37 per cent stake held by Mr Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings.

The Los Angeles-based alternative investment management firm has now upped its offer to $3.1bn and proposed acquiring a maximum 9.99 per cent stake in Crown.

The offer comprises a $2bn, seven-year private term loan and a $1.1bn loan that Oaktree can convert into new Crown shares at a strike price of $13 in specified circumstances.

Any selective buyback of Crown shares held by CPH would need shareholder approval, with Mr Packer’s private investment vehicle unable to cast votes in favour of the resolution.

Crown says its board has not yet formed a view on the merits of the revised proposal.

The reclusive billionaire is understood to be open to selling down his stake and has indicated he will be guided on any offer for Crown by the recommendations of its board, which he quit in 2018.

He then tried to sell a 19.9 per cent interest in Crown to Hong Kong gambling giant Melco Resorts, an ill-fated transaction that had only got halfway through when last year’s NSW inquiry was launched.

Melco ended up offloading its 9.99 per cent stake to US private equity giant Blackstone, which last month had its sweetened $12.35 cash per share takeover offer for Crown knocked back on the grounds it undervalued the company.

Blackstone’s initial bid of $11.85 cash per share compared with Crown’s previous closing price at the time of $9.86 and was considered opportunistic given the company’s share price had been hammered by pandemic-related closures and the NSW inquiry.

Crown shares were $12.15 in intraday trade on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Crown has not yet advised what it thinks of Star Entertainment Group’s $12bn merger bid launched last month.

Star argues a tie-up would unlock substantial value, including cost savings, making its shares worth more than $5 and Crown shares worth more than $14.

Oaktree’s first proposal came just days after the NSW regulator made Mr Packer agree to various undertakings aimed at blocking his influence over Crown.

It followed inquiry Commissioner Patricia Bergin finding his sway over the board had been “disastrous”.

The former Supreme Court judge found he was a key driver in the push to secure more Asian high-roller junkets, which had links to organised crime and laundered ill-gotten cash through the Melbourne and Perth venues.

Commissioner Bergin blamed management failings for allowing that to happen.

Ultimately, Crown was deemed not fit to hold a gaming licence for its new $2.2bn casino at Barangaroo in Sydney, and has since gutted its board under a “renewal” process in a bid to redeem itself and obtain the licence.

Separate royal commissions, sparked by the NSW probe, are underway in Melbourne and Perth.