There’s also questions about whether the current board has the wherewithal to pull off the required turnaround. It’s the sort of review that could quickly spark a deal or be drawn out and lead to zero changes – it’s impossible to know on day one.īut what’s certain is that there is a strong feeling among institutional investors that Star’s problems have gone well beyond where Crown Resorts was a year or so ago, and the clean-up job needs to happen behind closed doors.
The show-stopper was a decision to call in the bankers to mull options for its flagship asset The Star in Sydney, in an effort to create some sort of value for shareholders. No CEO likes cutting jobs, particularly after riding through a tough time like the COVID-19 pandemic and thinking the company had come out the other side.
So Cooke has had to pull the trigger on 500 jobs, making Wednesday the hardest day for the new boss since he took the reins six months ago.