Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JUL 2023年7月 亞博匯 16 BLACKSTONE TO “INVEST SIGNIFICANT CAPITAL” INTO CROWN MELBOURNE UPGRADE 黑石準備「投入大量資 金」升級墨爾本皇冠 THE PRESIDENT of US private equity giant Blackstone says the company is planning to invest heavily into amuch- needed renovation and upgrade of Crown Melbourne following its AU$8.9 billion (US$6.5 billion) acquisition of the property’s parent company, Crown Resorts, last year. Speaking with The Australian , Jon Gray said he was confident Crown could become one of the world’s leading casino operators again in the coming years but that significant improvements were required across its long- time flagship operation in Melbourne. Describing Crown Melbourne as “truly one of a kind, given its scale”, Gray explained, “Melbourne is a physical turnaround story and our objective would be to invest significant capital there and enhance the asset, which we think will be great for the community and great for tourism there as well.” On Crown’s recent regulatory issues, which found the company deemed unsuitable to hold casino licenses in Melbourne, Sydney and Perth but given two years in each market to return to suitability, Gray added, “We want to be a best-in-class entertainment company and hotel business. We understand that there was a lot that wasn’t done right and we’ve got to come in here and operate at the highest standard, the highest standard from a compliance standpoint, but then make [the properties] as attractive as possible to customers.” Asked what role Crown’s three Australian casinos could play moving forward, Gray replied, “We think these are great tourism assets. And frankly, I think tourism is one of Australia’s great growth engines. Sydney, Melbourne, Perth – these are world-class cities that people want to visit. So isn’t it a good idea to own world- class assets in those cities? “It’s a new day at Crown. That’s what we want to convey to people – we’re committed to operating this business at the highest standard possible and ultimately, we want tourists to come back in a big way.” 美國私募股權巨頭黑石集團 總裁Jon Gray表示，繼去年斥資89 億澳元（65億美元）收購Crown Melbourne的母公司Crown Resorts之後，該公司正計劃投入巨資對Crown Melbourne進行 亟需的翻新和升級。 Jon Gray在本週接受《The Australian》採訪時表示，他相 信皇冠集團在未來幾年將再次成為全球領先的賭場運營商之一， 但其在墨爾本的長期旗艦業務需要重大改進。 Gray認為CrownMelbourne「考慮到其規模，的確是獨一無 二的」。他表示，「墨爾本正面臨實體轉型。我們的目標是在那 裡投資大量資金並增強資產，我們認為這對社區來說是很好的 ， 也非常適合那裡的旅遊業。」 在提及皇冠最近面臨的監管問題，Gray補充道：「我們希 望成為一流的娛樂公司和酒店。皇冠被認為不適格在墨爾本、悉 尼和珀斯持有賭場牌照，但被給予在每個市場兩年的時間來恢復 適格性。我們知道有很多事情做得不對，我們必須從合規性的角 度以及最高的標準來營運，然後再讓它們對客戶盡可能產生吸引 力。」 當被問及皇冠在澳洲的三家賭場在未來可以發揮甚麼作用 時，Gray回答說：「我們認為這些都是很好的旅遊資產。坦率地 說，我認為旅遊業是澳洲最大的增長引擎之一。悉尼、墨爾本、 珀斯——這些都是人們想去的世界級城市。所以在這些城市擁有 世界級的資產難道不是一個好主意嗎？」 「這是皇冠的新一天。這就是我們想要傳達給人們的——我 們致力以盡可能高的標準經營這項業務，最終，我們希望迎來遊 客的大量回歸。」