One of the proposals came from Oaktree Capital as part of a special situations fund while the identity of the other company remains under wraps.
The Oaktree Capital bid put forward an offer of NZ$0.70 a share while the second proposal offered $NZ0.75 per share. During May, SkyCity’s shares were trading at between NZ$0.625 and NZ$0.50 per share.
Both takeover offers were subject to a variety of conditions and one or both of the companies seeking to acquire SkyCity asked that the integrated resort operated did not buy or sell any assets.
In its statement today, SkyCity said its board “carefully considered” both takeover proposals and ultimately decided that they “did not adequately reflect the underlying value of the company, and that the conditions were problematic”.
However, SkyCity advised both companies that it was open to updated proposals but neither company produced such an offer.
In early May, SkyCity ramped up its asset sell-off efforts, seeking a buyer for The Grand Hotel, which sits within its Auckland precinct that also includes the New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC). It also announced that it had found a buyer for a couple of its other assets – a 17 storey office building and three other adjoining buildings, which was later revealed to be Mainland Capital and Russell Property Group, the same joint venture currently delivering New Zealand’s first Sheraton hotel in Christchurch.
Alongside selling off the office tower and other buildings for NZ$74.5 million, SkyCity has confirmed it has found a buyer for The Grand Hotel and in its results release last week indicated it expects to make at least $200 million from the pending sale.
As the owner and operator of both New Zealand’s newest and largest convention centre, the NZICC, and SkyCity Adelaide, which has considerable event space, a takeover of SkyCity could have significant impacts for the business events industry.
