Genting Bhd’s voluntary takeover offer for its Bursa Malaysia-listed unit, global casino operator Genting Malaysia Bhd, has become a mandatory offer under bourse rules. As of 5pm on Thursday, the suitor had acquired a circa 2.02-percent stake in Genting Malaysia from the open market, meaning under stock market rules that mandatory takeover is now required, to acquire the remaining shares in the subsidiary.
Separately, as of 5pm on Thursday, the parent’s cash existing offer of MYR2.35 per share had been accepted for an additional 5.66 percent of the target’s shares, representing just over 320.8 million units of stock. It pushed Genting Bhd’s stake in the unit to just above 57.0 percent.
In mid-October, Genting Bhd made a circa US$1.59-billion conditional bid to acquire all shares in Genting Malaysia that it didn’t already own, aiming to delist the unit from Bursa Malaysia.
Genting Bhd’s takeover offer became unconditional in early November, after the parent’s stake in Genting Malaysia surpassed 50.0 percent.
The parent also announced on Thursday that the closing time and date for the acceptance of the offer has been extended to 5pm (Malaysian time), on December 1, from a prior November 24 deadline.
As of Thursday, the total of Genting Malaysia shares acquired by the suitor on the open market since it made its unconditional voluntary offer, had risen to nearly 114.5 million.
Genting Malaysia operates a number of casinos around the world. The firm’s flagship property is Resorts World Genting, Malaysia’s sole licensed casino. The company also runs gaming operations in the United Kingdom, Egypt, the United States, and the Bahamas.
According to the parent, the takeover would enhance Genting Malaysia’s financial profile as the latter is in the run for one of three full-scale downstate New York casino licences that are likely to be awarded by the end of 2025.
Genting Malaysia is proposing to extend and upgrade its existing Resorts World New York City slot-machine and electronic gaming facility in the borough of Queens, New York City.
