Star refi off to the races; credit funds return term sheets
It’s early days for Star Entertainment’s refinancing, but the deal is shaping up as one of the year’s hottest – with plenty of interest from major credit funds.
This month,Street Talk reported a handful of sharp-nosed special situations investors were preparing financing packages to lob at the under-siege business, amid concerns the equity raising wasn’t enough to fix the balance sheet.
Now we can reveal refi term sheets hit the inboxes of interested parties, outlining key debt terms, the structure of debt, what purpose the proceeds will be applied to and the like. Responses were due back last Friday.
New Star Entertainment CEO Robbie Cooke. Louie Douvis
Ashurst finance partner Shawn Wytenburg has been running point on the refi. Barrenjoey’s Barry Sharkey has also been on call for the ASX-listed gaming group for some months now.
Street Talk understands the term she–et was distributed to distressed debt investment giant Oaktree Capital Management, Apollo Asset Management, Bain’s special situations unit and credit and private equity player Cerberus Capital Management, among other parties. It was returned with comments about where the special situation funds see pricing, the margin they could give, and estimates around how much debt could be provided.
Apollo makes sense here having made a bunch of similar investments in the United States – namely last year’s purchase of The Venetian Resort Las Vegas – but sources said the alternatives asset manager was less committed than its rivals.
Whoever gets a foot in the door will need to have their best and brightest on the project. The complex group structure features several joint ventures including Star’s Queens Wharf Brisbane development, still under construction. And there’ll be
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