Australian casino operator Star Entertainment is selling $37.5 million of assets to pay off some of its debts.
Star announced the sale during the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) in the months following David Roster’s resignation as company chairman.
Star Entertainment would sell the Sydney Event Center and its assets to Foundation Theatres to recover from its current liquidity crunch.
This story comes shortly after Star announced that at the end of December 2024, it only had AU $79 million in cash to spend and has been seeking extra funding since September.
Steve McCann, Star CEO, said: “The Star has worked closely with the team at Foundation Theatres since they acquired the sublease for the Sydney Lyric in 2011.
“We are pleased to partner with them as part of the continued evolution of our broad entertainment offerings at The Star Sydney.
“We continue to work on a number of other potential non-core asset transactions.”
Some have criticized the Star for selling the multi-floor center for less than it is worth.
In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, an anonymous source said: “One theatre alone is worth more than double this, as every assessment in Sydney conducted has determined.
“Sydney desperately needs more theatres, but the last thing we need is more theatres inside a casino.”
Rumors have emerged that Cerberus Capital Management is in talks with some of Star’s lenders to restructure the gaming company’s debt. These rumored creditors include Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Soul Patts, and Westpac.
Reportedly, there are talks about buying out some of the AU $400 million total sum of debt that Star has accumulated. Cerberus has yet to confirm this publicly.
The New York giant Cerberus manages $65 billion in assets. As a leading alternative investment firm, it specializes in credit, private equity, and real estate investments.
Read more about how Star Entertainment ‘prepared for war’ against NSW state regulator.
