{"id":837019,"date":"2025-09-08T09:32:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T07:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=837019"},"modified":"2025-09-08T09:32:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T07:32:53","slug":"sun-city-owner-betting-big-on-buyouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/837019\/sun-city-owner-betting-big-on-buyouts\/","title":{"rendered":"Sun City owner betting big on buyouts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sun International is looking to acquire new companies after the group failed to acquire Emperors Palace-owner Peermont.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal to acquire Peermont, which was worth around R7 billion, was terminated following issues with competition regulators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Competition Commission recommended that the Competition Tribunal reject the deal in October 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission said the deal would substantially prevent or lessen casino and gambling services in South Africa and central Gauteng. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Competition Tribunal has final say and could have still approved the deal; however, the two companies binned the deal after it became apparent they would not be able to make it work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stipulated dates for the tribunal hearing and closing arguments were set for 2 October 2025\u2014but this would have been after the proposed transaction’s longstop date of 15 September 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sun International said that the regulatory environment remains a critical focus area and called for a balanced framework that aligns the interests of operators, government, and consumers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell-calibrated regulation is the most effective safeguard against the proliferation of illegal gambling and is essential to maintaining a fair and responsible gaming ecosystem,” it said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the failure to acquire Peermont, the group remains open to selective acquisitions in online gaming to enhance scale, geographic diversification and access to technology.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will continue to find ways in which to optimise and clean up the portfolio through minority buyouts, where opportune, and redirecting our resources to strategic growth areas.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said it remains focused on driving growth in free cash flow while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital allocation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The approach is central to increasing value and aims to achieve the correct balance between shareholder returns, investment in the business and value accretive M&A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finances <\/h2>\n\n\n
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In the group’s financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2025, it said it navigated economic headwinds and structural shifts in the gaming sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it benefited from market-leading assets, including land-based casinos, online gaming, resorts and hotels and limited payout machines.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sunbet group maintained its upward trend despite growing calls for stricter online gambling regulation<\/a>, with income increasing by 70.7%, driven by increased volume of activity and deposits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said, urban casinos had a muted performance with income declining by 1.4%. Some operational challenges and a casino market under pressure caused it to reassess its approach to the portfolio, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group noted that its Sun Slots strategy had positive outcomes, with income improving by 2.2% to R701 million compared to the prior period.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuing income increased 3.2% to R6.2 billion compared to the prior period.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When excluding the impact of the Table Bay Hotel lease cessation in Cape Town, continuing income increased by 6.7%.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group’s continuing adjusted EBITDA declined by 3.8% to R1.6 billion. This would have increased by 1.1% had it not been for the Table Bay Hotel lease cessation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the differences, the group\u2019s headline earnings per share rose by 60% to 741 cents per share, while its basic earnings dropped by 3% to 745 cents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Headline earnings benefited from a decrease in the estimated redemption value of the SunWest put option liability of R197 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It declared an interim dividend of 172 cents per share, a 6.8% increase on the prior period.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sun International says it is looking at smaller acquisitions in the online betting space, after the acquisition of one of its biggest competitors was canned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":651515,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11099,4987],"class_list":["post-837019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-sun-city","tag-sun-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837019"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":837035,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837019\/revisions\/837035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}