Inside Steve McCann’s final attempt to catch a falling Star
The Star Entertainment chief executive’s rescue plan for the casino group could be remembered as one of the trickier pieces of dealmaking in Australia this decade.
Star Entertainment’s CEO Steve McCann and Henry Cheng, chairman of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises. Michaela Pollock
Steve McCann, the sleep-deprived chief executive of the troubled Star Entertainment group, has been earning every cent of his potential $20 million pay packet. From a war room in the casino group’s head office in the Sydney inner-city suburb of Pyrmont, the 60-year-old has spent eight months trying to rescue what is one of the biggest public company disasters in recent history.
The solution isn’t pretty. He will offload the company’s newest, glitziest and most prized asset: its half stake in the $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf resort in Brisbane.
Zoe SamiosBusiness reporterZoe Samios covers wagering and the business of sport from the AFR's Sydney newsroom. She was previously the media and telecommunications reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and covered media at The Australian. Connect with Zoe on Twitter. Email Zoe at zoe.samios@afr.com
Anthony MacdonaldColumnistAnthony Macdonald is a Chanticleer columnist. He is a former Street Talk co-editor and has 10 years' experience as a business journalist and worked at PwC, auditing and advising financial services companies. Connect with Anthony on Twitter. Email Anthony at a.macdonald@afr.com
