{"id":777022610,"date":"2025-02-05T09:57:14","date_gmt":"2025-02-05T12:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777022610"},"modified":"2026-04-22T02:07:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T05:07:06","slug":"blackstone-shows-interest-in-buying-another-australian-casino-operator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/blackstone-shows-interest-in-buying-another-australian-casino-operator","title":{"rendered":"Blackstone shows interest in buying another Australian casino operator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The New York-based private equity firm already acquired Crown Resorts in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Australia.- The US investment fund Blackstone Group<\/strong> is reportedly interested in acquiring The Star Entertainment Group<\/strong>, which is going through financial challenges. The group bought Crown Resorts<\/a> in 2022, and it is believed the New South Wales government was against one company owning both Sydney casinos, but The Star’s uncertain future could change this stance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to reports, Blackstone could make an offer once the casino operator enters voluntary administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January, The Star said it planned to sell The Star Sydney Event Centre and some other spaces at The Star Sydney to\u00a0Foundation Theatres\u00a0<\/strong>for AU$60m (US$37.5m). It has executed an exclusivity arrangement and binding term sheet setting out key terms. The transaction is subject to the finalisation of long-form transaction documents and customary conditions, including government and regulatory consents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Q2, the casino operator posted revenue of AU$299m (US$185.4m)<\/strong>, down 15 per cent sequentially<\/a>. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were negative AU$8m (US$5m) compared to AU$18m (US$11.84m) in the previous quarter. Available cash<\/a> as of December 31 amounted to just AU$79m (US$49.16m).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company said the decline in revenue was mainly due to the closure of Treasury Brisbane Casino<\/a> and softness at The Star Sydney following the implementation of mandatory carded play and cash limits partially offset by revenue growth at The Star Gold Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Crisafulli<\/strong>, the premier of Queensland, said he is open to discussing possible tax relief to prevent job losses and has suggested Star venues could be taken on by another company. New South Wales premier Chris Minns<\/strong> ruled out any financial support for the Star. He said: \u201cWe\u2019ve got funding requests right across NSW, from roads to psychiatrists to nurses to the railways. I mean, I don\u2019t have money for casinos, I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New York-based private equity firm already acquired Crown Resorts in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":20685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Blackstone Group, having acquired Crown Resorts, is reportedly pursuing The Star Entertainment Group amidst its significant financial distress, including negative EBITDA and declining cash reserves. This potential M&A activity introduces complex regulatory considerations regarding market concentration in Sydney, potentially challenging prior government opposition to single-entity casino ownership. The Star's asset divestment and discussions of government financial support underscore the precarious operational and capital markets environment for the operator.","focusai_entities":"Blackstone Group, Crown Resorts, The Star Entertainment Group, Foundation Theatres, David Crisafulli, Chris Minns","focusai_location":"Australia, New York, New South Wales, Sydney, Queensland, Brisbane, Gold Coast","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), product_ux (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Precedent?","query":"What specific regulatory and governance frameworks would need to be re-evaluated by the New South Wales government to permit a single entity to control both Sydney casino licenses, given The Star's financial distress?"},{"label":"Capital Structure Impact?","query":"How would a potential acquisition by Blackstone, possibly through voluntary administration, impact The Star's existing debt obligations and overall capital structure, and what are the implications for current bondholders?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,157],"tags":[16237,23871],"class_list":["post-777022610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-business-news","tag-blackstone-group","tag-the-star-entertainment-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777022610"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777022621,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777022610\/revisions\/777022621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777022610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777022610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777022610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}