Aquis Entertainment, the Australian company that owns and operates Casino Canberra, has announced that it has decided to accept an offer worth 63 million Australian dollars from Iris CC Holdings for the casino.
Earlier this year, Aquis Entertainment had received an offer of 52 million dollars for Casino Canberra from Capital Leisure & Entertainment, which is owned and controlled by interests associated with the Oscars Group, the hospitality giant that owns 30 different venues in New South Wales, including hotels, pubs, conference and events facilities, chartered vessels plus commercial and residential developments.
Aquis Entertainment was inclined to accept the offer at that time, but in July everything took another turn as Iris CC Holdings submitted a second offer for Casino Canberra. That led to the suspension of trading for Aquis Entertainment shares.
The owners of Casino Canberra did sign a share purchase agreement with Oscars but the better offer from Iris CC Holdings persuaded them to break that agreement. As a result, Aquis Entertainment will have to pay Oscars a break fee worth 1 million dollars.
Iris CC Holdings announced that it will keep all the employees that are currently working at Casino Canberra. Allison Gallaugher, Chief Executive Officer of Aquis and Casino Canberra, described the new proposal as “a considerable value uplift to the company and its shareholders.”
