James Packer to split his Crown kingdom

James Packer's global casino family is not getting along and he wants a divorce, Las Vegas style. 

Like dysfunctional children, his various gambling assets around the globe are tripping each other up and he is bowing to the sharemarket's verdict in the hope it will revive his fortunes. 

Last year's plan to privatise the whole operation was a bust so the plan now is to split the safe but underperforming Aussie casinos from the spectacular but volatile Macau market - along with Crown's other high growth international bets - including Las Vegas.

Crowqn is planning split its international businesses away from its Australian operations. Photo: Jessica Shapiro

"We believe that Crown Resorts' extremely high quality Australian resorts are not being fully valued and the Crown Resorts share price has been highly correlated to the performance of its investment in Macau," said Packer's man in the Crown chair, Rob Rankin.

Let's hope this is not an omen for Packer's own future nuptials.  

Just in case the geographic split is not enough, he is also planning to split the Australian businesses from the land it sits on by spinning it off into a property trust. 

James Packer and fiance Mariah Carey. Photo: Bloomberg

Just in case anyone does not get what role the Australian casinos in Perth, Melbourne - and in the not too distant future, Sydney, will play - Crown has indicated that 100 per cent of earnings will be paid out as dividends. 

More than half of this will go to Packer. This cashflow is more than just pocket money for Packer, Crown's first half dividend sent $120 million his way. 

And it is not just Packer who needs the money.

Crown is preparing to spend more than $3.5 billion on new developments in both Melbourne and Sydney by the end of this decade along with new projects in Perth and Las Vegas. Photo: Cameron Spencer

Crown is preparing to spend more than $3.5 billion on new developments in both Melbourne and Sydney by the end of this decade along with new projects in Perth and Las Vegas.

This includes a $1.5 billion, 90-storey hotel and apartment complex in Melbourne's Southbank while its Barangaroo casino in Sydney is expected to top $2 billion.

And the problem is, even Packer admits that his recent projects in Australia have not been delivering the returns expected - and certainly nowhere near the returns from Macau.

Crown's Macau operations have been in steady decline. Photo: Bloomberg

But the current business structure has always proved to be a rocky union for the increasingly global business.

First the markets loved Crown's Australian casinos but were not sure of the whole Macau bet. 

Then Macau rocketed, and funded bets on Manila and plans for world domination. 

Not even three years ago Packer was boasting to Crown investors that he had turned his $600 million bet on Macau into a $6 billion fortune. 

It dragged the safe but boring Australian operation along on its coat-tails, but not for long. 

The Chinese government launched a crack down on corruption which has sent the gambling enclave into a two year decline which shows no signs of stopping.  

Got a tip? ckruger@fairfaxmedia.com.au