Australia’s Star Entertainment Group is cutting up to 40 senior staff from its books as it looks to cut costs ahead of US casino firm Bally’s Corp officially taking control of the company, according to a report by the Australian Financial Review.
The media outlet also claims that regulators could give Bally’s and investment partner Bruce Mathieson probity approval within days – completing the final hurdle in the AU$300 million rescue package that will give them a combined 61.02% stake in Star.
Star’s Group Managing Director and CEO Steve McCann is said to have distributed a staff memo last week which read, “We continue to navigate financial and environmental challenges while remaining firmly focused on building a stronger, future-ready organisation. To support this, we’ve reviewed our structure to best align with the group and property strategies.
“Unfortunately, this will mean some job losses, which will be challenging for people, and we ask that everyone works to manage through this process with respect and support for each other.”
A comprehensive restructuring of Star was already expected given past comments by Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim around the need to install a new executive team. Kim also told Inside Asian Gaming in a video interview that he was desperate to inspect Star’s financials given the sizeable losses the company has endured since a review of Star’s suitability in 2022 saw the company’s casino license suspended.
Star, which reported a narrowed AU$13 million (US$8.5 million) EBITDA loss for the September 2025 quarter, has listed the receipt of regulatory approvals for Bally’s and the Mathieson family among material uncertainties that threaten the group’s ability to continue as a going concern.
Others include a looming AUSTRAC fine for historical AML failures that it hopes is not “of such a magnitude, nor of such timing, that it would render the Group unable to pay its debts as and when they fall due”, and that it completes its exit from the Destination Brisbane Consortium in a timely manner.
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