The Reef Hotel Casino in North Queensland, Australia, has received a second takeover proposal which values the Cairns casino at AU$184 million.
The $184 million (approx. €103m / US$120m) or $3.70 per unit cash takeover proposal from Morris Group comes two weeks after Reef Corporate Services Ltd. (RCSL), the entity responsible for venue operator Reef Casino Trust (RCT), recommended that unitholders approve a $3.55 per unit or $177 million (approx. €99m / US$115m) off-market takeover proposal from Iris Capital.
Iris Capital owns two casinos in Canberra and Alice Springs and more than sixty hotels across Australia, and its bid has the support of the RCSL board and RCT majority shareholders Accor Group and Casinos Austria International, which together own 70 per cent of the Trust.
The alternative proposal for RCT from Morris Group, owner of the Ville Resort Casino in Queensland, also contemplates the acquisition of Casinos Austria International (Cairns) and RCSL by another entity associated with Morris Group and is conditional on agreements to effect these additional acquisitions.
RCSL said in a statement on Monday that its independent board committee will consider the alternative proposal in detail with RCSL’s financial and legal advisers. This will include an assessment of the likelihood that share purchase agreements for the acquisition of Casinos Austria International (Cairns) and RCSL can be negotiated, and the timeframe in which these could be agreed.
Pending the outcome of the independent board committee’s review of the Morris proposal, the RCSL board maintains its previous recommendation in favour of the offer from Iris Capital.
Other than the proposed acquisition of CAI (Cairns) and RCSL, the Morris Group and Iris Capital offers are on substantially similar terms and conditions.
The RCSL board entered into a Takeover Bid Implementation Agreement with Iris Cairns Property on 11 July, with that agreement including an obligation that the board consider any competing proposals.