Packer and Ho: A very Lucrative Partnership in Asian Gambling

Packer and Ho’s relationship started bumpy but the two became great friends.

James Packer and Lawrence Ho have been working together and making gambling news for quite some time. The Nasdaq-listed joint venture Melco Crown Entertainment represents Packer and Ho’s partnership. In a recent interview Ho said that their relationship went through its share of tough times early on. Now their 10-year business relationship has grown into sound friendship. “We don’t see each other enough, but we have grown to be great friends.”

• The Packer-Ho relationship has it’s rough times early in their relationship
• Packer wanted to move away from media and towards gambling
• Lawrence Ho grew up in Toronto as a child away from the family business

Melco Crown is responsible for helping to put Macau resorts on the map. Their City of Dreams which debuted in Manila, was their first project outside of Macau. Now the two are awaiting another City of Dreams in Macau. Now Ho is investing in two Russian casinos worth USD 630 million. Ho said “if we had different views the company would be very different, but if you look at what we are trying to build we both have the same theory. We want to build the best possible products and things that we are proud of.”

Packer and Ho’s partnership has part of its beginnings in Australia

James Packer is from Sydney, Australia and is the son of the late media mogul Kerry Packer. His grandfather, Sir Frank Packer, was a media proprietor. Packer was educated at Cranbrook School in Bellevue Hill, Syndney. After he graduated from high school, Packer worked at his father’s Newcastle Waters cattle station in the Northern Territory. Packer didn’t attend university because he claimed his marks weren’t satisfactory.

Packer eventually gained prominence in the family business. He was the former executive chairman of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL) and Consolidated Media Holdings. An early move for Packer was his buying of stakes in online classified sites SEEK and CarSales. Taking advantage of post dotcom crash prices, Packer predicted that companies needs for classified advertising would soon be replaced by online companies. The move proved accurate and he sold his initial USD 33 million stake for USD 440 million.

When Packer’s father died, he inherited Consolidated Press Holdings Limited. Since then, he has moved away from media and more towards the gambling industry. He sold 50 percent of his stake in his media assets to get investment money for his gambling ventures. Unfortunately, Packer ended up getting rid of all his media holdings. One.Tel, an Australian telecommunications company Packer was director of, collapsed. As a result the Supreme Court forced a settlement using funds from Consolidated Press, Crown Resorts and News Corp.

Packer’s Crown is one of Australia’s largest entertainment resort groups with casinos in Melbourne, Perth and London. He has planned a USD 2.7 billion investment into upgrading his Australian resorts. The Australian Tycoon is entering the online betting market by signing a deal with Matthew Tripp to take over BetEasy. Thanks to preferential Chinese gambling laws, Melco Crown managed to become the largest Australian joint-venture partnership inside China.

The Packer and Ho’s partnership is linked to China

Lawrence Ho was born in Hong Kong in 1976. His father, Stanley Ho, is the gambling magnate and “father of the modern gambling industry” in Macau. The Hong Kong executive, of no relation to poker player Maria Ho, has 16 siblings. The most notable of these are actress Josie Ho and casino director Pansy Ho. Although Macau’s early gambling industry embodied the family business, Lawrence was kept separate from that when he moved to Canada as a child.

Ho graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelors Degree in commerce. In addition, he has an honorary doctorate of Business Administration from Edinburgh Napier University in Scotland. Two years after graduating from college, Ho took over Melco International Development Limited. The ailing company had been losing money for quite some time. By redirecting the focus of the company towards leisure and entertainment, Ho was able to turn the business around.

Ho was forged a name for himself despite the large shadow his father Stanley had over the industry. The Hong Kong Executive once said “being his son made it difficult for me to prove myself.” Taking his father’s advice to never give up, he helped Melco develop their first casino in Taipa, Macau which later became known as the Altira Macau. This luxury hotel has been given a 5-star rating by Forbes magazine.

After joining Australian Billionaire James Packer, he helped developed the Crown Macau. This USD 580 million resort casino features eight presidential villas and a two-level spa. The partnership spawned the City of Dreams resort in Macau, which has an underwater theme. Taking advantage of the Philippine gambling laws, a second City of Dreams is underway in Manila.

Although Macau is experiencing an economic decline due to the onslaught of the Chinese government crackdown on corruption, Ho is steadfast in his resolve. Considering the crackdown as “the natural process of a developing country”, Packer and Ho are set to open their Studio City resort. Based on a cinematic theme, Melco Crown will take advantage of Packer’s established Hollywood connections. Ho made a deal with the Primorye Territory Government to develop an entertainment resort near Vladivostok, Russia.