Star mops up insto leg of $750m raise; Mathieson’s stake unclear

afr.com:

Star Entertainment Group had no troubles luring in takers for its fire-sale equity raising on Tuesday, but its largest shareholder Bruce Mathieson’s appetite was a mystery to fund managers well into the evening.

It’s Star’s second recap this year.  Flavio Brancaleone

Sources said Mathieson, who owns 9.97 per cent of Star, was expected to wait until the evening to decide how much he would tip in. Nevertheless, the book closed with strong demand at 12pm.

It would be highly unlikely for Mathieson to forgo his share of the rights issue, with fund managers expecting him to take up enough to stay just under the 10 per cent threshold. However, the delay wasn’t surprising given he stumped up $1.20 a share just six months ago. There were also questions about how much another shareholder, Chow Tai Fook, would tip in.

Fund managers were expecting allocations on late Tuesday evening. It would pave the way for Star to resume trading on Wednesday, hopefully with clarity on the takeup from its key shareholders in the institutional leg.

As flagged by Street Talk, Star has also secured a $450 million debt package backed by Westpac and Barclays. Together, the equity and debt package would eliminate Star’s existing loans, which were part bank debt/part US private placement bonds. It would also bankroll Star’s costs at Queen’s Wharf in Brisbane.

The offer price was a 20 per cent discount to Star’s 75¢ last traded price. It is also substantially lower than the $1.20 a share at which Star last tapped equity capital markets for $800 million in February.