Crown investors are pledging their support behind chairman James Packer and downplaying his now infamous brawl with Nine Network president David Gyngell, calling it a personal issue between two buddies.
Still, the timing of the fight didn’t sit too well with other Crown big wigs, especially when the company’s Melco Crown Entertainment joint venture is looking at casino license renewal negotiations in Macau that could commence next year.
One Crown investor told the Australian that while Packer’s throwdown with Gyngell could and should’ve been avoided, it probably won’t affect those Macau license negotiations. “If you look at the history of Macau, I’m not too sure two friends having a fight registers on the Richter scale there.’’
Packer also caught a huge break when Gyngell admitted to starting the fight and said the Crown chairman was merely defending himself.
As far as how the fight will affect Crown’s bid in Japan, Packer can again thank his lucky stars that the confrontation received little attention in Japan because of the Golden Week holiday.
Likewise, the fight also isn’t expected to thwart Crown’s plans to build a resort and casino in Sri Lanka‘s capital Colombo. Crown faced a setback on that front when the government announced that it wasn’t going to give out any new casino licenses, but that hasn’t stopped the company from moving forward with its partnership with Rank Holdings, one of two local companies already holding casino licenses.
