SkyCity Entertainment Group has put its Adelaide casino up for sale. The New Zealand operator told the NZX and ASX on 30 September that it will shortly start a formal sale process for the South Australian business, run by UBS.
The decision ends a strategic review of Adelaide that SkyCity opened on 20 August. Adelaide is SkyCity’s only casino outside New Zealand, where it runs properties in Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown.
What Adelaide could fetch
SkyCity has not put a price on the casino. Analysts at Forsyth Barr estimate the Adelaide business is worth between NZ$180 million and NZ$200 million.
That figure sits next to a wider asset sale programme. SkyCity is targeting NZ$275 million to NZ$300 million in total proceeds by the end of 2026. It has already banked NZ$74.5 million from commercial property sales and says it is in advanced talks to sell The Grand Hotel in Auckland, with a binding agreement expected shortly.
The group is also cutting costs. A two-phase programme targets NZ$30 million in savings in FY27, rising to NZ$70 million in FY28. The first phase removed more than 200 corporate roles in New Zealand. The second targets external spending across the group.
Two takeover bids already rejected
The Adelaide sale follows approaches for the whole company. In August, SkyCity disclosed that it had received unsolicited takeover proposals from Oaktree Capital Management and Iris Capital, the investment group owned by Sam Arnaout.
Oaktree offered NZ$0.70 per share, valuing SkyCity at about NZ$772 million. Iris Capital offered NZ$0.75 per share, or about NZ$827 million, according to iGaming Expert. Both offers needed at least eight weeks of due diligence and debt financing, and both would have blocked SkyCity’s planned property sales.
The board rejected both. It said the proposals “did not adequately reflect the underlying value of the company” and that their conditions were problematic.
SkyCity said it wants proposals for Adelaide from these and other parties. Iris Capital already owns Casino Canberra and Lasseters Hotel Casino in Alice Springs. An Adelaide deal would give it a third Australian casino.
The board has not ended talks on the group itself. It said it will continue discussions while evaluating other options to increase shareholder value, and it has appointed UBS and law firm Chapman Tripp to handle talks with interested parties.
A regulatory file still open
Any buyer takes on a casino with a long compliance history. In 2024, the Federal Court of Australia ordered SkyCity Adelaide to pay A$67 million over breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing law, in proceedings brought by AUSTRAC.
A separate independent review of the casino followed in South Australia. In June 2026, SkyCity signed a non-binding heads of agreement with the state regulator, Consumer and Business Services (CBS). iGaming Expert reported that SkyCity agreed to pay A$21 million to the state’s Liquor and Gambling Commissioner over governance issues at the casino.
SkyCity says it is well advanced in negotiating a binding agreement with CBS to settle the outstanding matters. Closing that agreement before a sale would give bidders a clearer view of what they are buying. Any new owner will also need approval from South Australian authorities to hold the casino licence.
Pressure on the balance sheet
The sale comes after a weak financial year. FY26 net profit fell 36% to NZ$18.2 million and EBITDA fell 44.2% to NZ$120.5 million. Debt stood at NZ$591 million, according to iGaming Expert.
The shares traded at around NZ$0.68 after the results, below both rejected offers. SkyCity said its Q1 underlying results are in line with guidance and that cost savings are running ahead of plan.
Online licence and the next dates
While it sells assets in Australia, SkyCity is bidding for a new licence at home. It is pursuing one of the online casino licences in New Zealand’s licence auction run by the Department of Internal Affairs, which closes on 14 October.
The next update comes at the annual shareholder meeting on 21 October. The open questions are whether the CBS agreement is signed, how many bidders UBS has drawn into the Adelaide process, and whether Oaktree or Iris Capital has returned with a higher offer for the whole group.
Source: SkyCity Entertainment Group
