Major Shareholder Makes Offer For Bally’s CorporationCasino Company Considering Proposal From Standard General |
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Bally’s Corp. has formed a committee to determine whether the company should accept an offer from one of the company’s major shareholders. The move would take the company private and come at a time when management is facing several significant projects in Las Vegas, New York, and Chicago.
The company is one of several bidding for a New York City casino license, while also closing the Tropicana in Las Vegas to make way for a new stadium for the Oakland Athletics. In Chicago, the company is searching for $800 million in financing to build a casino resort in the city.
Now the hedge fund firm Standard General is seeking to acquire all outstanding shares that it doesn’t currently own. The company is offering $15 per share, a 41% premium, and values the company at $684 million.
Second Bid For Company
Standard General already owns 23% of the company, but this is a much-reduced offer compared to what the firm offered in 2022 – $38 per share, valuing the company at $2 billion.
Bally’s is based in Rhode Island, and owns and operates 16 casinos in 10 states, including New Jersey, Mississippi, Illinois, Nevada, and more, as well as a horse track in Colorado and online sports betting operations in 14 states.
Bally’s appears to be taking the offer seriously. The company’s chairman of the board, Soo Kim, controls Standard General and believes his team has a deep knowledge of some of the issues Bally’s faces. The company has a major debt load and closed out 2023 with $163.2 million in cash and $3.6 billion in debt.
“Our proposed transaction would allow the company’s stockholders to immediately realize a premium price, in cash, for their investment and provides stockholders certainty of value for their shares, especially when viewed against the operational risks inherent in the company’s business and the market risks inherent in remaining a publicly-listed company,” Kim noted in a letter to shareholders.
The rollout of a temporary casino in Chicago has been particularly troublesome for the city and Bally’s so far. Tax revenue hasn’t met city projections and resort plans had to be changed after key infrastructure water pipes were discovered below the hotel site.
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