Bally's accepts Standard General buyout proposal

Amid an influx of merger and acquisition deals in recent days, Bally’s Corporation has confirmed that it has entered into a definitive agreement to proceed with a merger offer tabled by Standard General.

Standard General acquires the remainder of Bally’s Corporation stock

Standard General is looking for an all-cash transaction, but it is also offering shareholders the opportunity to retain their stake in the company using a rollover election, and the deal is put at roughly $4.6bn.

As per the deal's details, Standard General is acquiring the remaining stake it does not yet own in the company. The deal also comes after internal strife which saw K&F Growth Capital, a shareholder, castigate the company for considering accepting a previous offer that put the value at $15 per share. That offer did not come to pass.

To clarify, Standard General is Bally’s largest shareholder, and the company agreed to pay a 71% premium on the company’s 30-day volume weighted average share price as of March 8, 2024, a press statement for the companies said.

Once the deal is completed, there will be several things that will happen in terms of corporate integration. One is that the resulting company will remain a publicly traded entity, in compliance with the Securities Act of 1934.

The companies will also combine Bally’s casino properties with The Queen Casino & Entertainment, a casino operator currently under the Standard General umbrella. Commenting on this opportunity, Bally’s Special Committee Chairman Jaymin Patel said:

"After a detailed consideration by the Special Committee, with the assistance of our outside financial and legal advisors, it was determined that the Cash Consideration from Standard General delivers a meaningful and immediate value to stockholders."

Patel said that the team at Bally’s was looking forward to working with both Standard General and The Queen Casino & Entertainment in enacting these sweeping changes.

Laudatory statements were also issued by Bally’s Chief Executive Officer Robeson Reeves who welcomed the move, and spoke highly of the prospect of integrating the company’s 15 domestic casino properties with the four properties run by The Queen Casino & Entertainment.

"Our team is well positioned to continue to execute on our initiatives to drive growth across all our segments including in our International Interactive business, North America Interactive and our Casinos & Resorts," Reeves said.

Bally’s and Standard General to strike synergies as merger proceeds

Standard General Managing Partner Soo Kim was similarly pleased with the deal. He said that Bally’s shareholders were receiving a "significant cash premium," a jab at previous protests by K&F Growth Capital, and said that everyone may now opt for a cashout or simply rollover their shares as part of the new publicly traded entity.

Kim has also welcomed this opportunity to further develop the companies’ complementary assets. "The addition of the complementary QC&E assets builds upon the Company’s attractive growth profile," he concluded.

Although the current deal is better than the initial offer tabled a few months back, it’s still a far cry from Standard General’s overly generous offer back in 2022 when the company sought to acquire Bally’s Corporation paying an eye-watering $38 per share.

Image credit: Bally's Corporation