Ashurst is advising Crown Resorts on their recently announced proposed demerger and IPO.
Crown Resorts intends to pursue the following structural and capital management initiatives designed to enhance shareholder value:
- pursue a demerger of certain international investments to create a separately listed holding company (Demerger Proposal);
- explore a potential IPO of a 49% interest in a property trust which would own Crown Resorts' Australian hotels (excluding Crown Towers Melbourne), with Crown Resorts retaining a 51% interest (REIT Proposal); and
- adopt a new dividend policy to pay 100% normalised profit after tax.
Each of the Demerger Proposal and REIT Proposal are subject further approval from the Crown Resorts Board as well as regulatory approvals and third party consents. Each proposal is being pursued independently and neither proposal is dependent on the other.
The Demerger Proposal reflects the Board's strategy to address what it believes to be a material undervaluation by the market of Crown Resorts' assets, due to a consolidated structure. It reflects the different nature of Crown Resorts' controlled Australian operating assets from its international investments.
If the REIT Proposal is implemented it could realise significant value for Crown Resorts' shareholders, whilst retaining for Crown Resorts a majority interest in key assets within the Australian business.
The Ashurst team was led by partners Phil Breden and Anton Harris, and Senior Adviser Garry Besson, with assistance from partners Elspeth Arnold and Michael Ryland, senior associate Stuart Dullard, lawyers Sagar Sritharan and Carrie Hui, and graduates Lee-Anne Yeo, Adam Watterson (Corporate); partner Rob Ritchie, counsel Tim MacMillan, foreign qualified senior associate Caroline Smart and senior associate Paul Zanelli (Banking).
