Australia’s Crown Resorts has announced another key appointment on its transformation pathway with former superannuation boss Ian Silk named Chairman of Crown Melbourne.
Silk, who headed Australia’s largest super fund, AustralianSuper, for 15 years until 2021, will be joined on the Crown Melbourne board by former banking executive Helen Silver and former Managing Director of consulting firm Hay Group. Silk will also become a non-executive director on the board of Crown Resorts, the company said.
“Mr Silk is widely recognised as one of Australia’s most experienced business leaders, with deep expertise in governance, investment and risk management,” Crown said in a Thursday statement.
His appointment, which remains subject to regulatory approvals, follows other appointments by US private equity firm The Blackstone Group since its recent acquisition of Crown, with John Borghetti to take over as Chairman of Crown Sydney and John Van Der Wielen as Chairman of Crown Perth.
Ciarán Carruthers, current Chief Operating Officer of Wynn Macau Resort, is set to take over from Steve McCann as Crown Resorts CEO in October where he will oversee all of the company’s assets in Australia and abroad.
The comprehensive corporate makeover of Australia’s casino giant comes in the wake of multiple inquiries into its operations, starting with the Bergin Inquiry in NSW in late 2020 and followed by similar inquiries in Victoria and Western Australia – all of which found Crown unsuitable to hold a casino license.
The NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) has since granted Crown permission to launch casino operations at its AU$2.2 billion (US$1.49 billion) Crown Sydney development, with the casino scheduled to welcome its first guests on 8 August, while both Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth have two years to prove their transformation under the supervision of independent monitors.
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