James Packer unlikely to bid for rest of Crown John Durie | September 07, 2009 Article from: The Australian
JAMES Packer is still sitting on 60 million options in Challenger with a strike price of $3.25.
This means he can still get any upside from the stock despite last week¡¯s $422m stock sale.
Most assumed the stock sale was the end of his involvement in the company, but the 60m options equate to just over 10 per cent of the stock and it seems he has no plans to sell them.
By chance, the stock-sale price and the option strike-price happen to be the same.
The rapid $900m-plus asset sales in the past couple of weeks have seen all sorts of speculation build in the market, but the man himself isn¡¯t saying much.
According to one school of thought, he simply thinks the market has run too hard and he is cashing up.
That in itself is not a brilliant response, given the market was 35 per cent higher a couple of years back.
Consolidated Media, which is the holding company for 25 per cent of Foxtel and 50 per cent of Fox Sports, is a personal favourite because, apart from the sale of the nine Network to CVC, it was one of his greatest deals.
Back in 1997, as part of the Super League settlement with News Corporation, Consolidated Press agreed to back down from the Super League war in return for the stakes in Foxtel and Super League, which were acquired at cost and is now worth multiples more.
While his father was still alive, James Packer was closely involved and played a pivotal role in the deal.
Crown Casino is, of course, another favourite but recent events have also shown James to be a rational investor.
That means he won¡¯t be bidding for the rest of Crown at anywhere near present levels, and if Kerry Stokes wants to bid $5 a share for Consolidated Media, he will consider it. -----------------------------------------------------------
IMO kepy point is "if Kerry Stokes wants to bid $5 a share for Consolidated Media, he will consider it."
Regards,
CMJ Price at posting:
$3.28 Sentiment: None Disclosure: Held
