future sp directions, page-7

Not sure if that link works but this was the basis of the story which I found to be a strategically good move by the board.

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An international joint venture led by gambling company Star Entertainment has swooped on the Gold Coast’s Sheraton Mirage in the latest salvo in the casino war with James Packer’s Crown Resorts.

The listed gaming company is finalising a deal to pay up to $160 million for the landmark beachfront resort in conjunction with Hong Kong developer Far East Consortium and retailers Chow Tai Fook, in a repeat of its $3 billion Brisbane Queen’s Wharf joint venture.

Star and Crown were locked in a bitter competition over the Barangaroo and Queen’s Wharf developments, but Star has continued its dominance in southeast Queensland.

Star, Far East and Chow Tai Fook would become a major force in the Queensland tourism industry, which Star sees as critical to its plans to drive a jump in international visitors who will gamble at its facilities.

A revamped Sheraton would be designed to complement Queen’s Wharf and the nearby Jupiters Hotel and Casino on the Broadbeach Island.

The hotel is owned by a near unknown Chinese-backed group called Australia Wattle Development and is operated by Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which was recently acquired by Marriott International.

The hotel operator is believed to be keen on overhauling the famous property.

Star and its HK partners have already embarked on a $670m upgrade of the Jupiters development.

Any redevelopment plan would be kept low-rise to accord with the Spit’s unique environment and would not include a gambling element, as no application for one of Queensland’s fiercely contested regional casino licences has been made to the state government.

The plans are at a preliminary stage and the companies did not comment but their senior ranks are deeply invested in the project.

The Weekend Australian can reveal that a new company, Destination Gold Coast Investments, was created to undertake the venture, listing as directors Star chief executive Matt Bekier, chair John O’Neill, company secretary Paul Martin and Far East Australia’s executive director Craig Williams and the chief executive of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, Patrick Tsang.

While not dependent on winning a casino licence, if the high-profile purchase proceeds, it could scuttle nascent plans by Mr Packer’s Crown casino, which was negotiating with Chinese-backed ASF to run a prospective second casino on the Gold Coast.

ASF won the right to develop a $6.5bn regional casino, hotel, apartment and cruise ship terminal under the Queensland government’s integrated resort development proposal in 2014.

But after political wrangling over the location, the development has been downgraded to a potential $3bn project on a 5ha waterfront site on the northern Gold Coast, across the road from the Sheraton Mirage.

While that process has drawn heavy publicity, the Star-led consortium has been quietly finalising talks to acquire the right to buy the Sheraton Mirage from the Chinese-backed group Australia Wattle Development, which has only recently acquired the hotel.