Blackstone completed its takeover of Crown Resorts in June 2022. Just over a year later, the operators of Crown’s Melbourne and Perth venues were ordered to pay A$450 million for failures in preventing financial crime. They were given two years to pay.
AUSTRAC, Australia’s financial-crime regulator, said the venues had failed to assess financial-crime risks properly. Oversight by their boards and senior management had also fallen short.
Blackstone bought a business under supervision
There was a reason Victoria had allowed Crown to keep operating through the crisis. The 2021 royal commission judged that immediately cancelling its operating authorization would put innocent third parties and the state’s economy at risk. It recommended two years of independent scrutiny, giving Crown an opportunity to prove it could operate properly.
Victoria’s relevant regulator approved Blackstone’s takeover with conditions reaching well beyond the purchase itself. Crown Melbourne needed a board with a majority of independent directors, more reporting on financial crime and customer welfare, and additional audits. The regulator also imposed restrictions on interference with the venue’s executives.
Blackstone could not change the approved corporate structure or funding arrangements without permission, including bringing in new investors. It also had to commit to investing in and maintaining Crown Melbourne.
The venue still had a government-appointed special manager, Stephen O’Bryan, overseeing its recovery. He could attend meetings, inspect records and direct Crown to take action or stop doing something. Those were substantial powers inside a business that had just acquired a new owner.
During his term, which ended in June 2024, he issued 32 directions.
In March 2024, the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission found Crown Melbourne suitable to operate its venue. It said the failings identified by the royal commission had been addressed, while making clear that the full transformation would take longer.
For a buyer planning to reorganize a business, those restrictions belong in the valuation.
How much freedom will it have to change the financing? Which decisions will need outside approval? Crown’s purchase conditions answered both questions before the takeover was completed.
Adelaide’s proposed settlement reaches into the boardroom
SkyCity’s September 30, 2026 update put the proposed sale of SkyCity Adelaide alongside negotiations to settle outstanding regulatory matters. UBS would lead the sale process. The company did not name a buyer or disclose a price.
The venue had already been ordered to pay A$67 million in June 2024 over failures in preventing financial crime. AUSTRAC said it had failed to carry out required checks on 121 customers, including some of interest to law enforcement.
A further A$21 million penalty formed part of an in-principle settlement announced by South Australia’s regulator in June 2026. That agreement was non-binding when announced; SkyCity said in September that negotiations over a binding version were well advanced.
The proposed terms went into considerable detail about management. Adelaide’s board would need a majority of independent non-executive directors by January 1, 2028. Its chief executive would take instructions only from that board, unless the regulator approved otherwise. A bidder would need to consider how that arrangement fits into its wider business. Buying the venue would not necessarily mean being able to run every decision through the parent company.
An independent compliance auditor would report annually on whether the venue was meeting its operating authorization obligations.
There is also a limit to what can be inferred about the bills. The September announcement did not establish how a future deal would divide outstanding liabilities between buyer and seller. Crown’s history cannot tell a prospective Adelaide buyer which bills would ultimately be theirs.
Nor would a buyer be starting every repair from scratch. The independent review released in August 2025 had already found SkyCity Adelaide suitable to hold its operating authorization, acknowledging its commitment to addressing past failures. That earlier progress would be the starting point for judging a new owner, rather than crediting a takeover with every improvement that followed.
The customers who still got through
In October 2024, seven months after the Melbourne suitability decision, Crown Melbourne was fined another A$2 million. It had allowed 242 people who had asked to be barred from the venue’s services to place transactions between October 2023 and May 2024.
The regulator attributed those breaches to failures in systems and controls, rather than deliberate disregard of the rules. It also acknowledged that some restricted customers had gone to considerable lengths to evade detection.
Alongside the fine, Crown was directed to hire an independent expert to assess its exclusion program. It would then be required to implement the recommendations.
This article was written in cooperation with TPMedia