Crown pushes on with hotel IPO as China detains staff

Sydney

CROWN Resorts Ltd, the Australian casino operator with 18 staff under detention in China, plans to push ahead with a listing of some of its domestic hotels to raise funds for development projects.

Crown's board has backed the plan for an initial public offering of 49 per cent of an entity holding the Crown Promenade hotels and Crown Metropol hotels in Melbourne and Perth, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The IPO would allow Crown "to maintain a strong balance sheet and credit profile to fund existing development projects", the Melbourne-based company said. Crown Towers Melbourne isn't included in the IPO.