Charter Hall pulls out of $248M Star acquisition

The $248 million deal to buy the Treasury Casino and Hotel in Brisbane has fallen through, with The Star Entertainment Group now looking for a new buyer.

Charter Hall backed out of a long-term deal, 18 months after first announcing the deal, which, subject to several conditions, was expected to settle in the first half of 2023.

Charter announced on 27 October 2021 that it would purchase the heritage listed Casino and Treasury Hotel buildings and the Queen’s Gardens Car Park on George St in the Brisbane CBD in a partial leaseback deal.

Star released a statement saying, “The basis for this is that the conditions have not been satisfied by the relevant date under the terms of the contracts.

“Charter Hall declined to extend the dates for satisfaction of the conditions.”

Charter Hall has made no comment.

The latest setback for the casino giant comes as it goes to war with the NSW government over a proposed rise in casino duty and the pushback of its opening date for the $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf to 2024.

Star claims a ramp up of duties will cost jobs.

“This proposed duty increase was policy on the run by the former Treasurer, was ill-conceived with no consultation and had no regard to the capacity of our Sydney operation to afford the impost,” The Star chief executive Robbie Cooke said.

“If implemented as originally proposed, the additional duty would significantly challenge the economic viability of the Sydney business and put the jobs of up to 4,000 hard working Sydney employees in jeopardy.”

Jonathan Jackson, 21^st June 2023