Crown Resorts Seeks Revised Offer From Blackstone; Offers Access To Books

(RTTNews) - Australian casino operator Crown Resorts Ltd. (CWN.AX) Monday said that the takeover proposal from Blackstone Inc. (BX) at a price of A$12.50 cash per share does not represent compelling value, and that it expects a revised proposal that adequately reflects the value of Crown.

For this purpose, Crown has offered Blackstone the opportunity to access its non-public information to undertake initial due diligence inquiries on a non-exclusive basis.

It was on November 19th that the company confirmed receiving the unsolicited and non-binding revised proposal from Blackstone to acquire Crown by way of a scheme of arrangement at a price of A$12.50 cash per share.

Crown said its Board has carefully considered the proposal, and has discussed with Blackstone and its advisers and has also considered feedback from shareholders and regulators.

The provision of such non-public information is conditional on Crown and Blackstone entering into an appropriate confidentiality agreement.

Crown urged its shareholders not to take any action in relation to the proposal at this stage. There is no certainty that the discussions between Crown and Blackstone will result in a revised proposal from Blackstone.

Crown has received previous acquisition proposals from Blackstone of A$11.85 cash per share in March 2021 and A$12.35 cash per share in May.

Blackstone currently has a shareholding of 9.99 percent in Crown which it acquired from Melco Resorts & Entertainment Limited for $8.15 per share in April 2020.

In Australia, Crown Resorts shares traded at A$11.02, up 0.73 percent.