Star Entertainment sells its share in Queen’s Wharf project in Brisbane
Star Entertainment is offloading its 50 per cent stake in its Queen’s Wharf project in Brisbane to Far East Consortium International and Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, its partners in the project, for A$53m.
Star confirmed it had entered into a binding heads of agreement with its Joint Venture Partners, ChowTai Fook Enterprises Limited and Far East Consortium International Limited (Joint Venture Partners) and that it will dispose of its 50 per cent equity interest in Destination Brisbane Consortium (DBC). It has agreed to terminate the DBC Casino Management Agreement after a transitional period, subject to regulatory approval and other conditions.
The Star will acquire the Joint Venture Partners’ interests in the Dorsett (Tower 1 Hotel) and Andaz (Tower 2 Hotel, expected to open in H2 CY 2025) at The Star Gold Coast. This will result in The Star’s interest in each asset increasing from a 33.3 per cent to full ownership, consolidating its position on the Gold Coast. The transaction consolidates the gaming and non-gaming assets on Broadbeach Island, Gold Coast, to being entirely owned by The Star. The Star believes there are several benefits by consolidating its position on the Gold Coast including the full ownership of two hotels (313 rooms at Dorsett, 4-star and 202 rooms at Andaz, 5-star) will enhance The Star’s customer offering and provide further depth to its
accommodation mix on the Gold Coast
Group CEO and Managing Director, Steve McCann said: “This transaction is an important milestone for the company and contributes to providing a potential pathway towards financial viability. Our team has worked hard to deliver The Star Brisbane and establish a new precinct for Brisbane. We are grateful for the efforts of all of our employees and we will work with our joint venture partners and the regulator to transition to a new casino operator in due course.”
“We are excited about our future in the Gold Coast. We will have almost 1,200 hotel rooms at the Gold
Coast following the opening of the 5-star Andaz Hotel in late 2025 and believe that once we optimise these operations and our strategy, our full ownership of these hotels will enhance our integrated offering and provide an opportunity to improve the performance of the business. The receipt of cash funding will
provide additional support in the near-term as we focus on putting in place additional liquidity measures and seek to implement a whole of company refinancing.
“This transaction is a step in the right direction for The Star. There are still a number of challenges that we need to address, including progressing short and long-term liquidity for the Company. We remain focused on the remediation of the business and restoring our reputation as a suitable licensee at both The Star Gold Coast and The Star Sydney.
“While there is more to do to have access to the funding from the Bridge Facility and the Refinancing Proposal, these initiatives, together with the agreement to exit Destination Brisbane Consortium and expand our operations at the Gold Coast, improve our capacity to have a viable future, both for the company and its stakeholders. We are now focused on implementing these proposals, including
continuing our engagement with Governments, regulators and existing lenders to seek their support for our plan. We also remain focused on implementing our plan to restore our licences.
“The company still faces various risks, including the availability of funding, the ability to restore our licences (including implementing our remediation plan and various regulatory reforms relating to carded play and cash and time limits), maintaining support from stakeholders, resolving the various litigation
and claims from historical issues and managing the business in a period of continuing lower revenue and negative cashflow. I would like to thank our team for their efforts and our stakeholders for their support in relation to the important matters we announced today.”
