Australian casino company The Star Entertainment Group Limited has published a new shareholder update, revealing that American multinational finance corporation JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its affiliates have ceased to be substantial shareholders of the company.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Ceases to Be a Substantial Shareholder
In an Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) filing, The Star gave notice that it understood that JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its affiliates had ceased to be substantial shareholders of the company.
For context, The Star is required to disclose changes to the shareholding of substantial shareholders per Listing Rule 3.19.
According to the Australian casino and hospitality business, the finance corporation reduced its shareholding on September 10, falling under the threshold that requires substantial shareholder disclosure.
It should be noted that JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s decision to reduce its shareholding in The Star comes amid a troubled period for the Australian company.
A Difficult Period for the Casino Company
The past few months have been full of struggles for The Star Entertainment Group, which has had plenty of regulatory and financial troubles. The company’s Q4 results exposed its continued softness despite its nonstop efforts to get back on track.
For context, The Star reported revenue of AUD 270 million ($175 million), as well as an EBITDA loss of AUD 27 million ($17.5 million) for the period. While the revenue results were mostly consistent with the prior-year period, the EBITDA loss increased noticeably.
To make matters worse, The Star Entertainment’s shares experienced a sharp drop after its failure to negotiate the sale of its interest in the Destination Brisbane Consortium (DBC). Several weeks after that, the company also found itself unable to secure lender waivers that would have allowed it to breach the terms of its debt agreements due to serious disagreements with its lenders.
To top it all off, a Chinese-born billionaire initiated legal proceedings against The Star Sydney for AUD 57 million ($37.2 million), asserting that the casino property had exploited his gambling addiction and language barriers, incurring significant losses.