Billionaire Packer asks Echo investors to oust chairman

SYDNEY: Crown Ltd’s billionaire chairman James Packer has called on shareholders in casino operator Echo Entertainment Ltd to oust their chairman John Story and appoint former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett to the board.

The “fiasco” around the firing of the former managing director of Echo’s Sydney-based Star casino had “clearly harmed” the business, Packer said in a letter to shareholders of Echo attached to a regulatory statement from Crown yesterday.

“John Story has overseen a period of serious underperformance for Echo’s casinos,” the letter said. “A new chairman must take charge.”

Crown, Echo’s largest shareholder with a 10% stake, has sought a board seat and applied for permission from regulators to expand its holding.

The moves prompted analysts at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, UBS AG and Macquarie Group Ltd to speculate that Echo would become a take- over target for gaming companies seeking Sydney’s only casino license.

A takeover bid might be “imminent,” Sacha Krien, an analyst at CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets in Sydney, said on May 7. “These kinds of licenses don’t come up every day.” — Bloomberg