Report: Australian billionaire may help CityCenter

Australian billionaire and gambling magnate James Packer is weighing a stake in City Center, the troubled $8.7 billion Las Vegas development owned by MGM Mirage and Dubai World, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

Packer, whose Melbourne-based gambling company, Crown Ltd., has casinos in Australia and China, is discussing the possibility of an investment in the project with Colony Capital LLC, a Los Angeles-based investment firm, a source told the Journal.

Colony and Crown "would step in and take over the funding requirements. The idea is to keep City Center going," the source told the Journal.

MGM Mirage shares were among the big gainers on Wall Street today, rising 48 percent to $4.65 in 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange composite trading.