Owner James Packer has played down the likelihood of Crown Resorts making an early application for a casino licence in Japan, reports The Australian.
In an interview, Packer said he did not want the company’s management team “distracted” by a competitive bidding process to build a casino resort in Japan.
Crown had been considering casino development opportunities in the city of Yokohama. “People talk to me about Japan. I don’t believe it is realistic for us to win a licence in Japan,” he told The Australian.
“I am not saying ‘no’ forever but what I am saying ‘no’ to is writing a AU$500m or AU$1bn cheque to go into Japan next week.”
Plans for the Japanese parliament to discuss the country's latest casino bills, on which the industry has pinned much optimism, were put on hold after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called a snap general election, which took place on October 22.
Abe’s ruling coalition looks to have won the election convincingly, securing a clear majority in the Diet.
