Star Entertainment, one of the biggest owners of land-based casinos in Australia, has announced that the company reached an agreement to sell its beachside Gold Coast hotel for 192 million Australian dollars.
The Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Gold Coast is going to be bought by entities owned by the powerful Karedis and Laundy families, both well-known in Australia’s liquor and hospitality industries. The hotel was put up for sale in March 2023 as Star Entertainment was looking to balance its books. The sale has to receive an approval from the Queensland regulator as the liquor license has to be transferred to the new owner.
Australian Wattle Development Pty, which is 50%-owned by Star Entertainment, acquired the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort Gold Coast for 140 million Australian dollars in January 2017, so the company stands to make a profit of 52 million dollars from the sale. The other 50 percent of Australian Wattle Development Pty is owned by Hong Kong’s Chow Tai Fook and Far East Consortium.
About the price, Star Entertainment explained that it represents 21 times the earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for 2023 and around 650,000 Australian dollars for each room in the hotel.
The Australian company is looking to sell more of its assets due to recent difficulties with regulators both in Queensland and New South Wales. Star Entertainment also tried to secure a sale and leaseback transaction of its Treasury hotel and casino in Brisbane with Charter Hall, an investment and funds management company, but the deal fell through.
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