Dec 17 (Reuters) - U.S.-based Bally's and the Mathieson family tightened their grip on Australia's Star Entertainment on Wednesday, installing Bruce Mathieson Jr as CEO and Bally's chair Soo Kim as the embattled casino operator's chairman.
Shares of the Australian firm rose more than 14% to a three-month high of A$0.120, as of 0052 GMT.
Star's board now consists of Mathieson Jr, Kim, and Bally's President George Papanier.
The appointments come a day after Chief Executive Steve McCann stepped down, following
his efforts to steer the debt-laden firm through financial and regulatory turmoil.
The Mathieson family and Bally's are Star's largest shareholders, holding stakes of 23% and 38%, respectively.
Both parties have been instrumental in providing a financial rescue package to the struggling Australian firm, which was on the verge of bankruptcy.
Over the years, Star has been grappling with back-to-back probes into its management and operations, including accusations of money laundering and fraud.
In the last two years, the company has seen multiple executive changes and poured millions into compliance upgrades and new systems to restore its battered reputation and secure casino licences.
Since then, the company has slightly strengthened its balance sheet, with annual losses narrowing in fiscal 2025 and into the first quarter of the current year.
The cash-strapped firm continued to trim losses in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 on a sequential basis on improved performance across its operations, but uncertainty about its future persists.
In September, Star managed to defer the suspension of its Gold Coast casino licence to September 30, 2026, with "steady progress" on its remediation efforts.
However, the regulator-appointed Special Manager Nicholas Weeks, who oversees Gold Coast's operations, submitted a report stating the progress was slower than anticipated due to the group's financial issues.
(Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Rashmi Aich)
