James Packer has nearly halved his stake in Crown Resorts, selling 20 per cent of it to Melco Resorts and Entertainment for $1.76 billion.
Once the sale is completed, his family company Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH) will hold about 26 per cent of Crown with a value of $2.3 billion.
In a statement, CPH said it made the move in order to diversify the company's investment portfolio.
The CPH statement said the company remained optimistic about the future prospects of Crown as well as its resort facilities in Perth and Melbourne and the expected opening of Crown Sydney at Barangaroo in 2021.
Mr Packer said in a statement that he was "still vitally interested in Crown's success as a world-class resort and gaming business".
"Crown has been a massive part of my life for the last 20 years and that absolutely remains the case today — my continuing Crown shareholding represents my single largest investment.
He said he was "thrilled" Lawrence Ho and Melco had chosen to invest in Crown.
Mr Packer resigned from the board of his family company in March last year, citing mental health issues.
The past few years have seen Crown forced to deal with plunging profits, business expansion woes and the arrest of more than a dozen of its employees in China for the illegal promotion of gambling.
More to come.
