Billionaire casino mogul James Packer wants National Rugby League side South Sydney Rabbitohs to become the next ManU and "conquer the world," according to Stuart Honeysett of THE AUSTRALIAN. The code was "abuzz with the news" on Wednesday that Packer was "poised to buy
out" Peter Holmes a Court's 50% share of Blackcourt League
Investments via his family's private company, Consolidated Press
Holdings. Blackcourt currently owns 75% of South Sydney Football Club with Holmes a Court and Hollywood
actor Russell Crowe owning an equal 37.5% share after "they
bought into the club" for A$3M in '06. The other 25%
is "owned by South Sydney members together with a preference share that
controls the team's name, colours, jersey and choice of home ground." Holmes a Court said in a statement, "I
confirm there are negotiations under way for the purchase of my 50 percent share in Blackcourt, as I now reside overseas and am working on a
new, almost as hard, challenge -- writing my first book for Penguin." The Rabbitohs have "turned themselves around from the basketcases of the NRL to a
force on and off the field." The club is "expected to announce a profit"
of at least A$1M ($870,000) for this year (
THE AUSTRALIAN, 10/9).
BUSINESS AND FRIENDSHIP: In Sydney, Chris Barret wrote Packer, Australia's third-richest person, was "already a close mate of Crowe's
but the Oscar winner's commitment to the Rabbitohs, and attention to
detail, are said to have been a major consideration for the billionaire"
in his subsequent bid to upgrade from major sponsor to "partner in crime
at the helm of South Sydney." Packer will outlay as much as A$10M initially for the
37.5% stake in the club he is buying from Holmes a Court
in a deal that will "make him and Crowe the new joint majority owners." It is a development that "stands to stamp the premiers as the
new financial heavyweights of the competition and, if Packer has his
way, establish Souths as a global sporting brand." He will arrive with Crowe "already having given the club a
portal to Hollywood, from chatting about Greg Inglis on late night
American television with Jay Leno to hosting celebrities such as Pamela
Anderson at Souths games." Boasting an "estimated wealth" of A$7.1B, Packer's "deep pockets can be an undeniable game-changer for Souths." It is expected, however, that the casino mogul will "be content to be a junior partner in the alliance despite his fortune" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 10/8).
CRASH IMPACTED DECISION: In Sydney, Barrett reported in a separate piece it was after a "horrific train crash in Zimbabwe in July, in the days before he married his American
sweetheart," that Holmes a Court decided to sell his stake in South
Sydney. He flew out of Sydney "late on Wednesday afternoon, back to his base in New York after witnessing his Rabbitohs win a premiership eight years after he bought into the club." By the time Holmes a Court "steps off the plane," he "may well no longer own a stake in the famous club." The timing "appeared perfect with a long-awaited grand final triumph
achieved and a billionaire ready to take the baton," but for Holmes a
Court it was a "far more sombre life-changing experience three months
earlier that was a major factor in his decision to sell." He was in a tourist tram near Victoria Falls with his
"wife-to-be, award-winning photographer Alissa Everett, and the wedding
party in July when a freight train crashed into it, injuring 20 and
killing one of their guests, William Poovey." The ceremony "went ahead a few days later in Botswana but, as Holmes a
Court admitted at the time, he and his new wife were left with their
hearts 'broken for the loss of our dear friend'" (SMH, 10/9).
