SkyCity Launches Formal Sale Process For Adelaide Casino
SkyCity Entertainment Group will shortly begin a formal sale process for SkyCity Adelaide, the company told the NZX and ASX in a market release on 30 September 2026, after receiving inquiries from what it called "credible interested parties" in the asset.
The Auckland-listed operator said the process, led by investment bank UBS, will seek proposals from those parties and others. It follows a strategic review of the Adelaide business that SkyCity announced on 20 August 2026.
The sale is one strand of a wider restructuring SkyCity has been running through 2026. The company said it is targeting aggregate proceeds of between NZ$275 million and NZ$300 million from an asset monetisation programme before the end of the year, having already banked NZ$74.5 million from the sale of its commercial properties.
It is also in advanced, exclusive negotiations to sell The Grand Hotel, with a binding agreement expected shortly.
Regulatory Settlement In Parallel
Alongside the sale process, SkyCity said it is well advanced in negotiating a binding agreement with South Australia's Consumer and Business Services regulator, consistent with a non-binding heads of agreement announced on 19 June 2026, to resolve outstanding regulatory matters arising from an earlier independent review of the Adelaide casino.
The update also confirms SkyCity has rebuffed two unsolicited approaches for a takeover of the wider group. The company said it received the approaches on 25 August 2026 and that its board unanimously determined the proposed terms did not adequately reflect the underlying value of the company.
SkyCity said it has continued to engage with both parties since then, alongside evaluating other options, including the betting sites process now underway for Adelaide specifically.
SkyCity has also appointed law firm Chapman Tripp to assist in engaging with interested parties. The company cautioned there is no certainty the process will result in any transaction, and said it would update shareholders further at its annual meeting on 21 October 2026.
2027 Targets
Analysts at Forsyth Barr have previously estimated SkyCity Adelaide's value at between NZ$180 million and NZ$200 million.
The Adelaide sale process is one strand of a broader cost-cutting and asset-sale programme SkyCity has run through 2026, which has included cutting more than 200 corporate roles in New Zealand as part of a group-wide operating model reset.
The company is targeting NZ$30 million in cost savings in its 2027 financial year, rising to NZ$70 million in FY28.
SkyCity's shares trade on both the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges, and the group's other properties include casinos in Auckland, Hamilton and Queenstown in New Zealand alongside Adelaide in South Australia, making Adelaide one of several assets under review as the group resets its portfolio.
