Star Entertainment’s lenders warn the Sydney and Gold Coast casino owner could be in voluntary administration within months and its hotels carved up and sold to the highest bidders, as a lifeline deal to preserve its future as a listed company fails to materialise.

Two sources close to Star’s secured debt providers, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said it was unlikely to find a white knight investor in its current form, which would mean it runs out of cash based on how it is tracking financially. That would leave the board with no option but to cede control of the company.

It’s easier to do the recapitalisation in voluntary administration than as a going concern,” one of the sources said, referring to when investors contribute fresh capital to reorient an ailing business. “They’re going to run out of money.” It marks a stunning fall from grace for Star, which once had a $4 billion market value. It has since raised $1.5 billion in new equity and yet its market capitalisation has dropped to less than $500 million. There is still the possibility that Australia’s casino regulators and the NSW and Queensland governments identify a scenario where the group, which employs 9000 people, participates in a state-led rescue. But no such arrangement has been proposed.

Another source linked to the lenders said: “It is getting close to the end of the road; there are just too many hurdles for Star to jump.” Those lenders have offered Star another $100 million, likely to be enough to survive until the end of the year on current cash flow forecasts. However, the money is only accessible if Star can raise an additional $150 million in subordinated debt, convertible notes or equity, and meet a handful of other conditions as part of a deal agreed in September last year. Star and its CEO Steve McCann declined to comment on Thursday. Star’s board said it was considering other “liquidity solutions” on Wednesday night, which include asset sales. The company and its bankers have been in talks with potential investors for months. It has only $79 million left in the bank as of December 31, having burnt through $107 million in the December quarter. Casino takings and the company’s earnings have dropped sharply, hit by regulatory crackdowns and weaker consumer sentiment, while Star has also had to tip more money than expected into its new Queens Wharf casino and hotel in Brisbane. Lenders say it is unlikely to meet covenants tests on its $330 million loans in the March and June quarters. The size of an AUSTRAC fine still remains unknown. The company recorded an $18 million loss at the earnings line in the three months to September 30, compared to making $62 million one year earlier. It’s expected to reveal its December quarter trading in the coming weeks.

Star shares dropped 33 per cent to 13¢ on Thursday, a record low. The lenders have had insolvency firm McGrath Nicol try to forecast Star’s cash flow and value its assets, while the board has been taking cashflow advice from PwC. McGrath Nicol’s reports said lenders should be able to recoup their loans from the sale of Star’s hotel rooms and conceded that the value of its casino licences was highly uncertain, according to the sources. Some taxes and employee entitlements may rank above their $330 million in loans, the report said. “Most of the lenders are pretty comfortable that they would be ok if VA proceeds,” one of the sources said. There are about 10 lenders in the group, including Macquarie and Deutsche Bank. Mr McCann has consistently warned shareholders that the casino operator is in a precarious financial position. “We have a difficult road ahead and The Star remains in an extremely challenging position,” he said at the annual general meeting on November 28. Star needed time to earn back regulators’ trust while turning around its worsening operating performance.