Australian casino operator, Star Entertainment Group Limited, recently initiated a sale and leaseback transaction with Charter Hall, an investment and funds management firm for its Treasury hotel and casino property in Brisbane.
As per the deal, Star will sell both of its Treasury Casino and Treasury Hotel buildings, including the parking area, for $248 million. Following early settlement of the transactions, Star will lease the properties back for 30 years with two further 15-year options available. Star will remain as the operator of Treasury Casino until the opening of its new, $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf Brisbane property in 2023 when the company will shift its focus to the new operation.
Queen’s Wharf Brisbane is a collaboration between Star and two Hong Kong-based partners, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and the Far East Consortium. The development is expected to represent a great benefit to Brisbane’s CBD as it will add four world-class hotels, restaurants, cafes and bars, a massive amount of public space, and close to 2 000 apartments in addition to its sprawling casino that will house 2 500 slot machines and hundreds of gaming tables.
Star will retain its ownership of the former State Library building, which falls outside the terms of the transaction and the company is still weighing its options regarding the development of the site.
This new development will be unsurprising to some as Star has previously outwardly mused about a sale and leaseback arrangement of this nature when it proposed a merger with Australia’s other major Australian casino operator. Star floated its proposal to Crown Resorts, in May, and, more recently, laid out plans to sell and lease back a 49% stake in The Star Sydney property.
