Crown Resorts shareholders agreed to accept Blackstone’s offer to buy the company for $6.3 billion.
(Reuters) -On Friday, shareholders of Crown Resorts Ltd, which operates casinos in Australia, approved a $6.3 billion buyout by Blackstone (NYSE: BX) Inc.At a scheme meeting, 99.91 percent of the votes cast were in favor of the deal.
Crown Resorts put off its scheme meeting last month, saying that Blackstone had made good progress in getting the gaming regulatory approvals, but still hadn’t gotten all of them.
With the results of the vote, billionaire James Packer is one step closer to getting out of the troubled Australian casino company that has been hit by scandals and regulatory problems. This will end one of Australia’s most famous business dynasties.
The Crown said that the scheme would be heard in court on May 24.
The Crown hired the consulting firm Grant Samuel as an independent expert, and Grant Samuel said that the scheme is “fair, even if none of the contingent liabilities happen.”
Crown’s biggest investor and founder, Packer, will cash in his chips, which are worth about A$3.3 billion ($2.32 billion), about 15 years after starting the company.
(1 dollar equals 1.4237 Australian dollars).
