There was an almost unanimous decision by the shareholders of Australian casino group, Crown in favor of an acquisition of the company. 99.91% of the shareholders voted to back the takeover of the group by private equity giant Blackstone-owned SS Silver.
Both sides are now seeking to secure regulatory approval to have the deal finalized as quickly as possible. Blackstone has requested more time to obtain all the approvals, and a court hearing has now been scheduled for June 6th.
The next step, if and when the court approves the deal, is for the papers to be lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. It will then become legal and binding and shares in Crown will be suspended from trading on the Australian stock exchange.
Crown shareholders voted to accept Blackstone’s $8.87 billion bid after rejecting a substantially lower one ($5.64 billion) made last year.
Crown has experienced several turbulent years in recent times. Last year, authorities deemed the group unsuitable for operating its Sydney casino, after incidents of money laundering were discovered at their facilities.
Similarly, Crown was deemed “unsuitable” by authorities to operate casinos in Perth and Victoria. An inquiry said that the Crown’s conduct at these facilities was “illegal, dishonest, unethical and exploitative”.