Genting Malaysia acquires Empire Resorts shares in the USA

Genting Malaysia has officially initiated its bid to acquire Empire Resorts from Kien Huat.

US.- Genting Malaysia Casino and resorts operator said its US unit bought 13.2 million shares in Empire Resorts Inc from its largest shareholder, Kien Huat.

Earlier in August, the €115,3 million purchase was the first step towards a meticulous takeover plan with GenUSA and Kien Huat now jointly acquiring Empire Resorts.

Genting said the Empire shares were bought at €8,73 a share. Back in August, Genting proposed to acquire and privatize Empire offering to pay the same amount for a 46% stake.

“Following the proposed acquisition, GenUSA now holds a 38.3% equity stake in Empire on an undiluted basis and also a 33.3% on a fully diluted basis assuming full conversion of all preferred stock”.

Furthermore, Empire Resorts owns and operates Resorts World Catskills a casino complex in upstate New York opened in 2018.

Genting Malaysia will together with Kien Huat submit a preliminary non-binding proposal to Empire to acquire; by merger the outstanding shares held by shareholders of Empire unaffiliated with Kien Huat. Similarly, the deal would potentially lead to the privatisation of Nasdaq-listed Empire via a joint venture between the two operators.

The purchase of shares comes despite a lawsuit against Empire, Genting Malaysia and Kien Huat claiming they are steering the company towards privatization against the interests of other shareholders.

Worth noting that Empire Resorts has been loss making for several years. In 2018, the company posted a net loss of nearly €124,4 million.

Lastly, Genting Malaysia described its decision to invest in Empire Resorts, as an opportunity to better position the Resorts World brand in the region through cross-marketing with Resorts World Casino NYC, reduce costs and utilize its own IR experience to help improve the performance of Resorts World Catskills.