The deal would see Star give up assets, including its 50 per
cent stake in the $3.6 billion Queen's Wharf casino complex, and the
Treasury car park and hotel. Brisbane's resort and casino
precinct Queen's Wharf has faced financial woes. He said he would not like to see the company go into liquidation "for the people's sake".
Bruce Mathieson, who operates poker machine and pub empire Australian Liquor and Hospitality
with Woolworths, holds about a 10 per cent share in Star and has been interested in buying the Gold Coast casino.
Earlier this month Star confirmed its partners in the Queen's Wharf facility — Chow Tai Fook Enterprises
(CTF) and Far East Consortium (FEC) — have
offered to buy out its share.
Currently, Star and its Chinese venture partners pay a fee for Star to run the casino.
The latest Chinese offer could involve CTF and FEC taking over almost $740 million in debt from
Star and paying hundreds of millions to complete the Brisbane casino development.
Day one of the corporate watchdog's case against Star Entertainment has begun in a Sydney court.
But the then-Miles government found CTF was still suitable to hold a casino licence, arguing its lack of "candour and fulsomeness" with the regulator was due to "differences in cultural and organisational expectations".
