Australia’s Star Entertainment Group has confirmed interest from its Hong Kong-listed partners – Chow Tai Fook Enterprises Limited (CTFE) and Far East Consortium International Limited (FEC) – in acquiring the company’s controlling 50% stake in The Star Brisbane integrated resort.
Initial proposals have been knocked back, Star explained, because they have been deemed not to provide sufficient value.
The update by way of an ASX filing on Monday follows media speculation over the weekend claiming the Hong Kong entities – who each hold a 25% stake in the Destination Brisbane Joint Venture that owns The Star Brisbane – had tabled an offer to Star aimed at helping alleviate its perilous financial position. The Star Brisbane, which held a soft opening in August, has burdened Star with an additional AU$1.6 billion (US$1 billion) in debt and still requires significant investment before completion.
According to Star, it has received “several confidential, indicative and non-binding proposals from CTFE and FEC seeking to acquire The Star’s 50% interest in Destination Brisbane Consortium, along with 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.
Selling off its newly opened Brisbane integrated resort could be a game changer for Star, which revealed earlier this year that 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 more recently The Star Sydney Event Centre, appear to have only bought the company more time.
Star revealed in November that it had recorded an EBITDA loss of AU$27 million (US$17 million) for the first four months of the financial year ending 30 June 2025, with CEO Steve McCann warning that negative cashflow had become the norm on the back of significantly increased regulatory costs and plummeting business volumes.
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