The chairman of Bally’s Corporation says that the US-based gaming operator was originally going to wait for Australia’s The Star Group to enter voluntary administration before investing in the company.
However, the company was worried the group would be too hard to rescue at that point.
Bally’s chairman Soo Kim told Reuters that the company had been looking at The Star for well over a year, but when it “saw the company start to sell their proverbial furniture, burn the furniture for firewood we decided to move”.
The executive furthered that “given there was a fire sale of assets, there might not be anything left if administration was to come.”
The Star Entertainment Group entered into a AU$300m (US$180.8m) investment agreement with Bally’s Corporation in early April, with some AU$100m (US$60.4m) being contributed by The Star majority shareholder, and pokie billionaire Bruce Mathieson.
Source: Asia Gaming Brief
