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The Star Entertainment Group is chasing hundreds of millions of dollars in extra funding from investors as the embattled casino operator fights the clock to stave off financial collapse.
Discussions with its major investors, such as pokies billionaire Bruce Mathieson, continued deep into Sunday evening ahead of the expected release of Star Entertainment’s annual results on Monday.
A fresh injection of cash into the business would allow Star to secure its ongoing viability after a second probe into the company’s culture found it unsuitable to hold a casino licence.
Mathieson, with an estimated wealth of $2.5 billion, is one of the investors to have backed Star’s previous rounds of capital raising last year, which netted close to $1.5 billion. The casino operator’s business is currently worth just $1.3 billion, based on the last trading price of its stock at 45 cents.
Star Entertainment’s new chief executive Steve McCann is trying to financially stabilise the casino operator while the retention of its Sydney licence is still in doubt. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Fund manager Perpetual has been another willing backer of Star Entertainment in recent months. Mathieson owns a 9.6 per cent stake but recently received regulatory approvals to acquire up to 20 per cent of Star’s shares. Meanwhile, Perpetual lifted its stake to 8.8 per cent in May but would need regulatory approval to lift its stake above 10 per cent.
The next 24 hours will be crucial for the casino operator, which was forced to delay the announcement of its full-year results on Friday. Star Entertainment needs to show the market it has the funding needed to stabilise its underperforming casino business while also fixing the probity issues that have left the company’s retention of its Sydney casino licence in doubt.
According to reports in the Australian Financial Review, Star is also talking to its lenders about debt relief and possible fresh funding. It is also said to be talking to the NSW and Queensland governments about tax relief.
The company was sounding out investors for a $300 million raising last week via a convertible notes issue before the final report of a second inquiry into its Sydney casino landed from Adam Bell, SC, on Friday. While the report said Star Entertainment was still unfit to hold a licence, it stopped short of recommending the licence be revoked.
Star’s latest results are expected to reveal massive writedowns of its newly opened Brisbane casino, Queen’s Wharf, which cost nearly double the initial $2 billion estimate, and at a time when casinos are underperforming across the country due to the cost of living crisis and anaemic tourist interest. The Queen’s Wharf precinct is a joint venture with Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium.