Australia’s Star Entertainment Group has confirmed the interest of its Hong Kong partners Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited (CTFE) and Far East Consortium International Limited (FEC) in acquiring a 50% stake in The Star Brisbane.
Star explained that initial offers were rejected as they were deemed not to provide sufficient value.
The update via an ASX filing on Monday follows media speculation over the weekend that the Hong Kong companies, each holding a 25% stake in Destination Brisbane, which owns The Star Brisbane, had submitted an offer to Star aimed at easing its financial situation. The Star Brisbane, which opened in August last year, saddled Star with an additional A$1.6 billion (US$1 billion) in debt and still requires investment to complete.
The Star said it had received “several confidential, indicative and non-binding offers from CTFE and FEC seeking to acquire The Star’s 50% stake in Destination Brisbane Consortium, as well as other assets.”
However, “The Board of The Star has assessed each of the CTFE and FEC proposals received to date, and after careful consideration (which has included external advice) concluded that none of the proposals have provided sufficient value for The Star.”
Star added that it continues to engage with its partners to determine whether a sale of its 50% interest can be negotiated on satisfactory but warned completion of any such transaction was not certain.
“The Group continues to explore possible liquidity solutions,” it said.
The sale of the newly opened integrated resort in Brisbane could be a game changer for Star, which has previously said it is rapidly burning through its limited cash reserves.
The sale of some non-core assets, including the old Treasury Casino building in Brisbane and The Star Sydney Event Centre, appears to have only bought the company more time.
In November, Star reported an EBITDA loss of A$27 million (US$17 million) for the first four months of the financial year ending June 30, 2025. At the time, CEO Steve McCann warned that negative cash flow had become the norm amid a significant increase in regulatory costs and a sharp drop in business volumes.
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