The Sun International South Africa (SISA) subsidiary of Sun International has pulled out of its planned acquisition of Peermont Holdings.
SISA struck a deal in December 2023 to buy Peermont for ZAR7.3 billion ($414.9 million). The agreement included the flagship Emperors Palace resort and online brand PalaceBet.
Sun shareholders voted to approve the deal in March 2024. However, doubts crept in when the South African Competition Commission recommended that the deal be shelved due to competition concerns.
There was renewed hope when the Competition Tribunal agreed to reconsider the opinion of the commission. It set a date of October 2 this year for closing arguments on the case and intended to announce a decision.
However, as this is later than the deal’s longstop date – when all approvals were required – both parties agreed to cancel the acquisition. The longstop date for the Peermont purchase had been set at September 15 this year.
“The parties have mutually agreed to the immediate termination of the proposed transaction,” SISA said.
What Could Have Been for Sun and Peermont
In addition to the Emperors Palace and PalaceBet, the deal included various other assets.
Had the deal gone through, SISA would have taken on the other 10 properties across the Peermont portfolio. These included venues in both South Africa and Botswana.
However, it was Emperors Palace that was the standout asset in the deal. The casino resort in Gauteng has approximately 1,700 slot machines, over 65 gaming tables and around 750 rooms.
