$3b deal would take casino firm private
Company to seek better offers over the next 45 days
Kerzner International Ltd., operator of the Atlantis and Mohegan Sun casinos, agreed to be sold for about $3 billion to a group that includes the company's chairman and chief executive. The shares had their biggest gain in more than three years.
Chairman Sol Kerzner, chief executive Butch Kerzner, shareholder Istithmar PJSC, and other investors will pay $76 a share, 8 percent more than the closing price on Friday.
''There is immense global consolidation in this industry," said analyst Eugene Christiansen of New York-based Christiansen Capital Advisors. ''Everyone is a target. No one is safe. That might be in their minds."
Kerzner's shares jumped $9.07 to $79.43, $3.43 above the offer, a sign investors expect a higher bid for the company.
The company operates the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, the Bahamas, and manages the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. The Kerzners control about 11 percent of the company's shares.
The buyout follows two multibillion-dollar casino acquisitions last year, including Harrah's Entertainment Inc.'s $6.9 billion takeover of Caesars Entertainment Inc.
The group will assume $599 million of debt, Paradise Island, Bahamas-based Kerzner said yesterday in a statement. The deal will be completed by the middle of this year.
The company said it will seek better offers during the next 45 days. The special committee of the board that negotiated the purchase will supervise that effort, and the Kerzners and Istithmar have agreed to cooperate in the process, the company said.
