South African hotel chain Sun International has announced plans to take over casino resort group Peermont for nearly 9.5 billion rand or nearly US$775 million. Peermont operates a portfolio of gaming and hospitality businesses in SA and Botswana and owns nine casino resorts, including its flagship Emperors Palace casino resort in Johannesburg.
To fund the acquisition, Sun intends to roll over nearly 3.9 billion rand of Peermont's senior debt while taking on a fresh facility of about 575 million rand, it said in a filing to regulators.
As Reuters reports, Sun said it would explore disposal of some small Peermont assets after closing the transaction. Should a deal to sell any before to the transaction's close be reached, then Sun's funding requirement will be reduced, it said.