Ardent Leisure sharpens Focus on Theme Parks with US$ 835-Million Sale of U.S. Unit
KONTAN.CO.ID - BENGALURU. April 6 (Reuters) - Ardent Leisure Group will sell its U.S. entertainment business to restaurant and arcade chain operator Dave & Buster's Entertainment for $835 million, as the Australian firm looks to become debt-free and focus on its domestic theme parks.
The deal follows a strategic review of the Main Event unit by Ardent, which owns Australia's biggest theme park, and private investment firm RedBird Capital Partners, which had taken a 24.2% stake in June 2020 when it came in as an investor.
RedBird manages more than $5 billion in assets and also has a stake in Fenway Sports Group that owns English soccer club Liverpool.
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Main Event operates more than 5,000 centres across 17 U.S. states, including bowling alleys, arcade games, laser tag and virtual reality arenas, and accounted for more than 90% of the company's total revenue last year.
Ardent will get $487 million in cash for its 72.6% stake in Main Event, which it will use to repay debt and return A$430 million ($326.2 million) to shareholders, it said on Wednesday.
After the sale, Ardent said it would look to revitalise its theme parks in Australia which have suffered over the last two years due to COVID-19 outbreaks.
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"The company will become solely focused on its theme parks business, have no debt and will have a strong cash position to support the ongoing recovery of the business," the company said in a statement after market hours.
The board said it would unanimously recommend the proposal to its shareholders, provided no superior proposal emerged for the business or for Ardent itself.
The deal is subject to approval from Ardent shareholders as well as the U.S. antitrust regulator, it said.
RedBird Capital and U.S.-based Dave & Buster's did not immediately reply to requests for additional details.
