Key points:
- Sale of event centre and assets to cost AU$60m
- Transaction expected to be completed by end of next month
The Star Entertainment Group is set to divest The Star Sydney Event Centre and its assets to the theatre operator Foundation Theatres.
The transaction is set to cost AU$60m (US$37.38m), after finalisation of long-term transaction documents and some customary conditions.
This exclusivity fee will be paid into escrow on or before the end of the month, while the completion of the sale is set to take place by 28 February 2025.
With this news, shares for The Star Entertainment experienced noticeable growth, and at the time of writing were 0.13 AUD (09:54 UK time), which represents an increase of 13% compared to the closing price from yesterday.
The Star CEO Steve McCann said: “The Star has worked closely with the team at Foundation Theatres since they acquired the sublease for the Sydney Lyric in 2011.
Good to know: Revenue in The Star Entertainment’s Q2 FY25 report was down 32%
“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."
This will likely bring some much-needed relief for the operator after it has struggled for some time now with financial difficulties, entering safe harbour earlier this month, while within its Q2 FY25 report it stated that “there remains material uncertainty as to the group's ability to continue as a going concern.”
