Bally’s forms special committee to assess Standard General bid
Group of “independent and disinterested directors” to examine $15 per share offer, as well as other alternative strategic options
Bally’s has formed a special committee to evaluate the acquisition offer from Standard General that values the remaining stock of the business at $15 per share.
The formation of the committee comes less than 24 hours after the investment fund launched the non-binding proposal.
As part of the offer, Standard General told Bally’s board that it expected independent directors to assess the proposal and make a subsequent recommendation.
Bally’s confirmed the committee will be made up of “independent and disinterested directors” that will look over the offer, as well as “any potential strategic alternatives”.
The offer from Standard General, which owns 23% of Bally’s shares, marks another attempt to take the business into full ownership.
A bid for the Rhode Island-headquartered firm back in 2022, worth $38 per share, was rebuffed by the Bally’s board.
Bally’s share price is currently sitting at $13.73, at the time of writing, after the news of the bid yesterday, 11 March, sent the operator’s stock soaring more than 25%.
The $15 per share offer values Bally’s at a 41% premium on its closing share price on Friday 8 March.
In the proposal letter, Bally’s chair Soo Kim and founder of Standard General said the offer represented a “premium price” for shareholders.
He wrote: “Our proposed transaction would allow the company’s stockholders to immediately realise 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.
“We would also be prepared to permit stockholders to elect to ‘roll over’ all or a portion of their company shares into equity of the post-closing company.”
In a release, Bally’s said: “There can be no assurance that any definitive offer will be made or accepted, that any agreement will be executed or that any transaction will be consummated.”