Operator News
South Africa – Sun International to buy Peermont Holdings for R7.3bn
By Phil - 18 December 2023
Sun International has announced plans to buy rival South African casino operator Peermont Holdings for R7.3bn (€363m) in a deal that will include 11 properties located across South Africa and Botswana, including Emperors Palace Hotel Casino Convention in Gauteng and the online sportsbook, PalaceBet.
Sun stated that the proposal offered a ‘unique opportunity to acquire the world-class and highly cash generative Peermont business, allowing the combined group’s equity value to significantly increase.’ 62.54 per cent of Sun International shareholders have provided written indications of support for the proposed transaction.
The operator added: “Land-based casinos, underpinned by the flagship Emperors Palace Resort, will enhance the quality of earnings and cash flow generation of the group, providing an increase in the contribution of land based and online gaming revenue to the combined group. The combination of Sun International and Peermont provides a compelling equity story, through increased scale, a larger enterprise value and greater capital markets visibility.”
Emperors Palace represents a significant proportion of the value of the Peermont Group and has achieved an average EBITDA margin (before accounting for management fee of c.40% in the past four years (excluding the 2020 financial year which was impact the global Covid-19 pandemic). This is similar to the historical performance of some of Sun International’s largest casino operations and demonstrates the quality of the property.
Collectively, the Peermont Group’s physical properties offer 3 349 slot machines, 152 gaming tables and 1 636 hotel rooms. Sun International has, over the last six years, repositioned itself from a highly geared hospitality and gaming group operating across several regions in Africa and Latin America, to a simplified and locally empowered South African-focused, cash generative business with disciplined capital allocation principles.
The Group generated EBITDA of R3 306m and R1 571m for the year ended 31 December 2022, and six months ended 30 June 2023, respectively. This strong performance has increased available capital, in the form of available borrowings and cash, for the Group to consider long-term strategic initiatives.
