Crown Resorts may receive new offer from Star Entertainment

Local media reports suggest The Star Entertainment Group may make a new unsolicited non-binding offer for Crown Resorts next year.

Australia.- The Star Entertainment Group could make another move for Crown Resorts in February 2022, Australian media have suggested. Star Entertainment made an unsolicited non-binding offer of AU$12bn (US$9.4bn) for the casino operator in May but withdrew its interest following concerns that Crown could lose its casino licence for Crown Melbourne.

However, although Victoria’s Royal Commission has declared Crown Resorts unsuitable to hold a licence for the Crown Melbourne casino, it has allowed it to keep the licence under stricter conditions. In August, Matt Bekier, Star’s CEO, also said he was still interested in a possible merger. He previously said a merger would deliver between AU$150m to AU$200m of cost synergies per annum with an estimated net value of AU$2bn.

Crown is still awaiting the results of the Western Australian Royal Commission into Crown Perth’s operations. The inquiry is due to deliver its final report by March 4.

Crown Resorts turns down latest Blackstone offer

Earlier this month, Crown Resorts rejected a third acquisition offer from The Blackstone Group. The US fund had made a third unsolicited and non-binding proposal to acquire all of the shares in Crown at a price of AU$12.50 (US$9.11) cash per share.

Through a statement, Crown Resorts said its board is of the view that the proposal does not represent compelling value for Crown shareholders. 

However, the Crown Board offered Blackstone the opportunity to “access non-public information to allow Blackstone to undertake initial due diligence inquiries on a non-exclusive basis so that it can formulate a revised proposal that adequately reflects the value of Crown.”