The Crown Resorts Ltd (ASX: CWN) share price will be one to watch closely on Monday.
This morning the casino and resorts operator confirmed that it has received a takeover approach.
What did Crown announce?
Crown announced that on Sunday it received an unsolicited, non-binding, and indicative proposal from a company on behalf of funds managed and advised by The Blackstone Group and its affiliates.
According to the release, Blackstone has made an offer to acquire all of the shares in Crown by way of a scheme of arrangement at an indicative price of $11.85 cash per share. This indicative price will be reduced by the value of any dividends or distributions declared or paid by Crown.
Blackstone's offer represents a 20.1% premium to Crown's last close price of $9.86. Though, it is worth noting that it is still lower than its pre-COVID levels.
The release notes that the proposal still is subject to a number of conditions. These include due diligence, the arrangement of debt finance, a unanimous Crown Board recommendation and a commitment from all Crown Directors to vote in favour of the proposal, approval from Blackstone investment committees, and the execution of a binding Implementation agreement.
The latter incorporates several terms and conditions including a condition that Blackstone receive regulatory confirmation that a Blackstone-owned Crown is considered a suitable person to continue to own and operate its gaming licences and other gaming-related approvals.
What now?
The Crown board has advised that it has not yet formed a view on the merits of the proposal but will now start its assessment. This will take into account the value and terms of the proposal and other considerations.
Crown's board will also engage with relevant stakeholders including regulatory authorities.
In light of this, it has advised shareholders that they do not need to take any action in relation to the proposal at this stage. It also warned that there is no certainty that the proposal will result in a transaction.
