Blackstone to Spend Hundreds of Millions to Revamp Crown Casino Melbourne

Summary:

• Blackstone Group plans to spend hundreds of millions to revamp Crown Resorts.
• Blackstone wants to transform the customer experience at Crown Melbourne.
• Crown Casino Melbourne has launched the PlaySafe Center to support problem gamblers

The US private equity giant Blackstone Group, which completed its acquisition of Crown Resorts in June 2022, has revealed plans to spend much more than the billions of dollars it has already spent to revamp Crown Resorts in Australia.

Blackstone Group to Invest Millions More in Crown Melbourne

The Australian (behind paywall), a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia, interviewed Kathleen McCarthy, the global co-head of Blackstone Group, on October 18, 2023, to learn more about the real estate giant’s plans for Crown Resorts in Australia.

Speaking to The Australian, McCarthy revealed the company’s plans to spend much more than the AU$8.9 billion it already spent on acquiring the gambling operator. The plans include upgrading physical facilities at Crown Casino Melbourne and tightening regulatory requirements.

Referring to Crown Casino Melbourne, McCarthy said The Blackstone Group has already invested hundreds of millions of dollars and is now venturing into the most exciting part of the project—transforming customer experience and giving them something new and unexpected.

McCarthy says the company is optimistic about Melbourne, which it considers to be a great location. However, it is also aware it must invest a lot of money to transform it into an exciting place everyone wants to visit. The company aims to attract residents and foreign tourists by creating unique shopping, dining, and entertainment experiences.

While always interested in fresh opportunities, the team at Blackstone is focused on its project to transform the Crown. McCarthy says that Blackstone’s secret of success is its ability to focus on high-quality real estate, which presents opportunities to develop into facilities that transform consumer experiences.

McCarthy, however, chose not to answer questions about Crown’s rival, Star Entertainment Group, which had also faced the wrath of Australian regulators, resulting in the fall of its share price from AU$4.50 to AU$0.60.

Crown Casino Melbourne to Launch PlaySafe Center

On October 17, 2023, Crown Casino Melbourne launched PlaySafe Center on its premises to support problem gamblers.

Dr. Jamie Wiebe, the PlaySafe executive general manager of Crown Group, went live on ABC Radio Melbourne with journalist Raf Epstein to provide more information about the center. You can listen to the interview on ABC Listen.