Standard General Wraps Up $4.6 Billion Bally’s Acquisition

Posted on: February 7, 2025, 04:46h. 

Last updated on: February 7, 2025, 04:46h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

Bally’s (NYSE: BALY) and Standard General announced today that the investor completed its $4.6 billion takeover of the regional casino operator.

Bally's
Standard General founder Soo Kim. The hedge fund completed its acquisition of Bally’s. (Image: Meet AC/Casino.org)

Standard General, the hedge fund that’s the largest Bally’s shareholder, offered $15 a share for the gaming company last March before boosting that bid to $18.25 per share in July 2024. That proposal, which assigned an enterprise value of $4.6 billion to Bally’s, was accepted. The Queen Casino & Entertainment Inc., majority owned by Standard General, paid the cash consideration to Bally’s investors.

The cash merger consideration was financed by the issuance of $500 million in senior secured notes due in 2028 provided exclusively by funds managed by Apollo, along with Bally’s available funds on hand and its available funding sources,” according to a statement.

As part of the transaction, Queen Casino’s Belle of Baton Rouge and Casino Queen Marquette in Iowa join the Bally’s roster. Those are riverboat casinos the operator is in the process of bringing ashore with those conversions expected to be completed later this year. Queen also operates DraftKings at Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Il. and the Queen Baton Rouge.

New Bally’s Stock Mechanics

Typically, takeovers of publicly traded companies by privately held firms, such as Standard General, result in the target’s stock being delisted when the transaction is finalized, but that’s not the case with Bally’s.

The casino operator’s investors were given the option of receiving cash or retaining equity and owners of 17.9 million shares elected to retain their holdings. That means 48.4 million shares of Bally’s stock remain outstanding and there are outstanding warrants to purchase up 11.6 million shares outstanding.

“Shares of Bally’s common stock trading under the ‘BALY.T’ ticker which remain outstanding as a result of the rollover election will continue trading on the New York Stock Exchange and revert back to the “BALY” ticker beginning Monday, February 10, 2025,” according to the press release.

Bally’s New Look

With the deal now completed, Rhode Island-based Bally’s operates 19 casinos across 11 U.S. states as well as a golf course in the Bronx, NY and a racetrack in Colorado. The company is bidding for a New York City casino license to turn that golf course into a gaming venue.

Bally’s also holds sports betting licenses in 13 jurisdictions in North America and there has been speculation that the operator could be a seller of its sports wagering unit, but no deal has to come pass of yet. Bally Casino, the company’s iGaming platform, is available in four states.

Standard General hasn’t commented on the possibility of future asset sales, but the hedge fund said it is committed to getting Bally’s Chicago casino — its most expensive project to date — to the finish line.