Star, Crown CEOs Meet to Discuss Potential Merger

Crown Resorts CEO Steve McCann has met with Star Entertainment CEO Matt Bekier to discuss the potential merger of the two casino operators.

In May, Star Entertainment made an unsolicited non-binding offer of AU$12bn (US$9.4bn) for Crown Resorts.

Although more details of the virtual meeting have not been released, according to local media, McCann could be willing to work on a deal and may have asked Star to provide more details about its non-bidding offer.

Star Entertainment previously said the merger would deliver between AU$150m to AU$200m of cost synergies per annum with an estimated net value of AU$2bn.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Rod Sims announced that a public review will be carried out to decide whether Star Entertainment would be allowed to make the acquisition.

Sims noted that the potential merger would result in a casino giant with operations in the main Australian states.

According to local media, Sims said: “It’s very early days. But we would look at the market for domestic table game customers and we would look at the competition between Barangaroo and Star in Sydney.”

If Crown finally accepts the offer, Crown shareholders could retain 59% of the shares while Star shareholders could own 41% of the newly-merged entity.