Crown Resorts, the largest operator of land-based casinos in Australia, has received a new and improved takeover bid from Blackstone Group, an extremely powerful global private equity group.
Blackstone had made a previous approach to buy Crown Resorts in March, and at that time the buyer offered 11.85 dollars cash per share. That initial bid was rejected, then Blackstone upped the price to 12.35 dollars per share but that offer was turned down by Crown Resorts as the Australian company considered it undervalued its business.
The Blackstone Group already owns 9.99 percent of Crown Resorts’ shares, a stake that was acquired from Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited, the giant Asian gaming group, in April 2020. The price per share at that time was 8.15 dollars.
The new offer is worth 12.50 dollars per share, and if accepted it would see Blackstone pay 8.46 billion Australian dollars to acquire the remaining 90.1 percent stake in Crown Resorts.
This proposal is subject to a few conditions, including Crown allowing Blackstone to conduct due diligence. Moreover, the offer requires backing from the Crown Resorts board in order to proceed to the next steps.
Last but not least, Blackstone has also proposed an implementation agreement in the deal, which imposes terms and conditions related to approvals from relevant courts and gambling regulators. These conditions are also related to the ongoing investigations involving Crown Resorts in Victoria and New South Wales.
