The Star invites WhiteHawk investors to tour properties in bid to secure refinancing deal

Embattled The Star Entertainment Group has flown out executives from potential investor WhiteHawk Capital to visit the operators’ casinos as it attempts to secure a lifeline investment from the American credit investment manager.

According to sources speaking with the Australian Financial Review, WhiteHawk’s managing director Alex Zuckerman and his team visited The Star’s three properties as they consider signing an agreement to take on the gaming operator’s debt and provide additional liquidity.

The AFR notes that Star chairman Soo Kim is also on the ground amongst the company’s restructuring and debt refinancing attempts.

Currently The Star is seeking to replace a a AU$430 million ($300.7 million) loan with a new agreement with WhiteHawk before the end of March, as current lenders have already waived covenants but are still charging fees of up to 5 percent of the loan value for the waiver.

The AFR sources indicate that some lenders are willing to join the new debt refinancing package but prefer for WhiteHawk to be the sole provider.

The Star in early March indicated that ‘there remains material uncertainty regarding the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern’, announcing an AU$109.7 million ($774 million) loss for 2H25.

The group in October of last year already received the final tranche of the U$300 million ($211.77 million) strategic investment from Bally’s Corporation and Investment Holdings Ltd as part of its takeover and restructuring, with Bally’s now holding 38 percent of The Star’s issued capital and Investment Holdings owning 23 percent.

On February 26^th the group indicated that it had executed a term sheet with WhiteHawk Capital Partners to potentially refinance all of the group’s debt and provide ‘incremental liquidity’, however the term sheet is non-binding ‘and may not lead to a definitive credit agreement’. The Star and WhiteHawk ‘are working towards a binding commitment by the end of March 2026, and to consummate the Refinancing Proposal by mid-May 2026’, the group indicated at the time.

A day after the WhiteHawk agreement was announced, The Star received the waiver on its loan covenants but needs a refinancing commitment letter by March 31^st to avoid a default on the loan terms.