Bruce Mathieson Jnr looms as Star board contender after stepping down from Endeavour Group role
The son of billionaire pub baron Bruce Mathieson could be in the running for a board seat at Star Entertainment after stepping down as a director of Endeavour Group.
Bruce Mathieson Jnr could be in contention for a board role at Star Entertainment, which his billionaire father now has approval to buy up to 19.9 per cent of, after stepping down as a director of Endeavour Group.
Mathieson Jnr quit the Endeavour board on Friday, a day after his pub baron father Bruce Mathieson was given the green light by NSW regulators to lift his stake in troubled casino company Star.
Mathieson Jnr, a former Endeavour Group executive, has been the board representative for his family’s Bruce Mathieson Group on the Endeavour board and looms as a likely option to soon take a similar role at Star.
The NSW Independent Casino Commission on Thursday cleared Mathieson and his company Investment Holdings to increase their holdings above the 10 per cent threshold that requires regulatory approval.
Investment Holdings currently holds 9.83 per cent of The Star, making it the company’s largest single shareholder.
The Queensland government has signalled it would allow Mathieson and Ross Blair-Holt, his long-time executive who also owns Investment Holdings, to increase their stake in Star to up to 19.9 per cent.
The Mathieson camp is considering its investment options and is also likely to put out the feelers to Star chair Anne Ward regarding the prospects of taking a board seat at the struggling casino group.
Ward this week moved to appoint former Lend Lease and Crown Resorts boss Steve McCann as the new Star chief executive.
Star will pay McCann – who will join on July 8 subject to regulatory approvals – $2.5m in fixed annual remuneration plus other bonuses and incentives.
The gaming group has lost several executives in recent months, including former CEO Robbie Cooke and chief financial officer Christina Katsibouba, as it faced continuing regulatory scrutiny of its operations in Sydney and Queensland.
Meanwhile, the Mathieson family will soon appoint a director to replace Mathieson Jnr on the board of Endeavour, in which it holds a roughly 15 per cent stake.
That potentially raises the intriguing yet ultimately unlikely prospect of a return to the Endeavour board by Bruce Mathieson himself, though the billionaire and member of The List – Australia’s Richest 250 has previously made his displeasure with other Endeavour directors publicly known.
The 80-year-old Mathieson is also battling myeloma, an aggressive type of blood cancer.
“Endeavour is continuing to work with the Bruce Mathieson Group (BMG) in the ongoing search for a suitable replacement for Mr Mathieson as the BMG representative on the Board,” Endeavour said in a statement.
“As previously announced, the Board’s intention is to continue to extend a Board seat to BMG while it retains a shareholding in line with its current level.”
Meanwhile, former chairman David Foster’s resumption on the Bendigo and Adelaide Bank board hasn’t lasted more than a couple of days after his exit from Star Entertainment.
The bank on Friday told investors the board and Mr Foster “have agreed” that he resume his leave of absence from the Bendigo board.
That one-line note offered no reason for his absence.
On June 24, the board had received notification from Mr Foster that he would be returning to the business on the day.
He has been on the board since September 2019 and stepped down as chairman of the bank after requesting a temporary leave of absence on April 17. He subsequently stepped down from the chairmanship on May 13, while on leave, with interim chair Vicki Carter taking the reins permanently.
Mr Foster ceased executive responsibilities and resigned as a director of Star on June 21, after he was replaced as chairman on April 29 – days after appearing at an inquiry into Star’s casino operations.
More Coverage
Why Regal’s Phil King is taking on the widowmaker trade
Is the hedge fund boss being brave or foolhardy by going where many have gone before and fortunes have been lost.
Prospero clients to get their cash back
Clients of shuttered foreign exchange trader Prospero Markets, whose managers were involved in a huge money laundering sting last year, look likely to get their money back.