Reef Casino Trust (RCT) said Wednesday that Iris Cairns Property has increased its takeover offer to AU$185.3 million ($119.1 million), raising the bid price for each unit to AU$3.72 ($2.39) in cash.
The sweetened bid is up from Iris’s previous offer of AU$3.55 ($2.28) per unit and represents a 4.8 percent premium to RCT’s latest closing price, the casino trust said in a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange.
The deal, if successful, would see Iris acquire all of RCT’s 49.8 million units. The board of RCT, including its independent directors, has unanimously recommended that investors accept the offer, provided no higher bid emerges and an independent expert deems the transaction fair or reasonable.
RCT’s two biggest unitholders – Accor and Casinos Austria International, which together control more than 71 percent of the trust – have already signaled support for the deal.
The revised agreement also increases the break fee to nearly AU$1.9 million ($1.2 million) and removes the need for competition watchdog approval, after Iris received clearance earlier this month.
RCT said the offer provides a strong premium to its trading performance, noting it values the trust 36 percent higher than in February, before Iris’s interest was first disclosed.
The Reef Hotel Casino, RCT’s sole asset, is located in Cairns, north Queensland. Iris Capital, which owns two casinos in Canberra and Alice Springs and more than 60 hotels, is seeking to expand its gaming footprint through the acquisition.
