Star Entertainment sells off assets, three new Sydney theatres to be built
Sydney will have its own West End-style theatre precinct after The Star Entertainment Group sold off assets to a company wanting to build three new venues.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Cash-strapped Star Entertainment Group has sold off key assets at its Pyrmont complex to a company committed to creating Australia’s most celebrated theatre district.
Foundation Theatres will build three new venues at the site after acquiring The Star Event Centre, the former Marquee nightclub, and an unused ‘cold shell’ space in a $60 million deal with the struggling casino giant.
The iconic Sydney Lyric and the boutique Foundry Theatre, both part of The Star’s expansive footprint, are already owned and operated by Foundation Theatres.
An additional three venues, expected to open from late this year, will deliver a concentrated five-theatre West End-style precinct that would see Sydney displace Melbourne as the epicentre of Australian theatre.
Foundation Theatres CEO Graeme Kearns said planning approvals have already been granted for a 1550-seat Broadway style theatre as part of the event centre remodelling.
Kearns also told The Daily Telegraph the former Marquee nightclub, which closed in 2022, would be repurposed into a live entertainment space for audiences of up to 1000 people while a further 550-person theatre would accommodate a variety of shows including cabaret and comedy.
“The conversion of the Event Centre represents the most commercially viable option for a new theatre in Sydney,” he said.
“The additional venues that we are planning will be a great addition to the live performance ecosystem of Sydney as the industry continues to grow and thrive.
“In 2024, the Sydney Lyric welcomed more than half a million theatre-goers … with the addition of our new venues, more than one million people a year will see shows at The Star.”
Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolau welcomed the announcement saying it was “great news for Sydney on so many levels”.
The Star Entertainment Group has entered into the sale agreement as it attempts to avoid a financial collapse.
The company has been in a desperate bid to raise cash after revealing it had burnt through more than $100m in the final three months of last year.
It warned earlier this month it may not have enough funds to continue as a going concern.
The sale also follows the announcement from The Star Entertainment Group’s chief executive Steve McCann last year that the company would embark on a series of asset sales.
The Star has already offloaded the leasehold of the heritage-listed Treasury Casino building in Brisbane to Griffith University for $67.5m, with Mr McCann signalling its hotel properties in Sydney and the Gold Coast are also on the block.
Foundation Theatres, which also operates the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, will pay the $60m into escrow this week.
On completion of the deal, funds will be held in a special account established under the terms of the group’s debt facility.
Mr McCann said the company would continue to “work on a number of other potential non-core asset transactions.”
Star has already used the entire $100m loan offered to it by a banking consortium last year, and it is struggling to meet stringent conditions so it can draw down on another $100m.
Star also has about $1.6bn in debt for the new Queen’s Wharf in Brisbane which needs to be refinanced by December 2025.
Star’s plight follows a series of damning public inquiries which concluded the company is unsuited to hold a licence, as it turned a blind eye to the risk of money laundering and other criminal activities.
The NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) in October last year stopped short of cancelling the licence for Star’s Sydney casino after uncovering a litany of regulatory failings flowing from the Bell II inquiry.
Star was fined $15m and its casinos in NSW and Queensland remain under the supervision of a government-appointed manager.
Star has set aside $150m in cash in case it has to pay fines over separate action taken against it by federal money laundering regulator Austrac. According to some analysts, the fines could exceed $300m.
Star shares have plummeted almost 40 per cent so far this year. At market open on Wednesday, SGR was 8.7 per cent higher to 13c.
Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Message 0481 056 618 or email tips@dailytelegraph.com.au
‘Massive mistake’: Waterhouse’s plans for $100m home spark outrage
A plan by the former daughter-in-law of a late bookmaking legend to subdivide one of Sydney’s most expensive trophy homes has sparked a planning row among neighbours in the harbourside suburb.
Massive champagne bottles to be popped at Sydney event
The corks on two of the biggest bottles of Champagne available in the world are set to pop in Sydney this weekend, with three people needed to pour the 30-litre bottle.