Australia’s Star Entertainment Group has reached an agreement to sell one of its Gold Coast hotel assets, the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Gold Coast, for AU$192 million (US$128 million).
In a filing, Star said its 50%-owned subsidiary Australian Wattle Development Pty Ltd would sell the property to entities owned by the Karedis and Laundy families – both prominent in Australia’s liquor and hospitality industry – subject to the purchaser obtaining approval from the Queensland regulator to transfer the liquor license.
Australian Wattle Development Pty Ltd, which also counts Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook and Far East Consortium as partners, acquired the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Gold Coast for AU$140 million (US$93 million) in January 2017. Star said the sale price represents a 2023 calendar year EBITDA multiple of 21x and around AU$650,000 per hotel room.
Star flagged the potential sale of non-core assets in a recent earnings and outlook update in which it warned of a non-cash impairment charge in relation to its NSW business in the range of AU$400 million to AU$1.6 billion (US$277 million to US$1.12 billion) due to a proposed increase in the NSW casino duty rate.
However, Star also revealed last week that a previous agreement to sell property related to its Treasury hotel and casino in Brisbane – a deal first announced in October 2021 – had fallen through.
The company is continuing to march towards the opening of its AU$3.6 billion (US$2.38 billion) Queen’s Wharf Brisbane development early next year.
