Atlantis owners plan to take company private
he Kerzner family, best known for building the grandiose Atlantis hotel and casino into the Bahamas' signature resort, wants to take its company private in a $3.6 billion deal with investors that include the Related Cos. of New York and the Dubai government.
Kerzner International is in the midst of a building spree as it prepares to expand the Atlantis brand to the Middle East.
With acquisitions on the rise in the increasingly consolidating casino industry, concerns of a potential takeover bid may have prompted the Kerzners to propose taking the company private, an analyst said.
''Everyone is a target. No one is safe,'' casino industry analyst Eugene Christiansen told Bloomberg News. ``That might be in their minds.''
But before the deal closes, the Bahamas-based company will seek better offers. Investors quickly began betting on other suitors. Kerzner International stock climbed to $79.43 on Monday -- almost $4 more than the partnership offered to pay for shares in the acquisition.
The Kerzner family would become the top shareholder in the private company, according to an executive close to the deal, and the father-and-son team of Sol and Butch Kerzner would retain their jobs as chairman and chief executive.
Kerzner International is in the midst of a building spree as it prepares to expand the Atlantis brand to the Middle East.
With acquisitions on the rise in the increasingly consolidating casino industry, concerns of a potential takeover bid may have prompted the Kerzners to propose taking the company private, an analyst said.
''Everyone is a target. No one is safe,'' casino industry analyst Eugene Christiansen told Bloomberg News. ``That might be in their minds.''
But before the deal closes, the Bahamas-based company will seek better offers. Investors quickly began betting on other suitors. Kerzner International stock climbed to $79.43 on Monday -- almost $4 more than the partnership offered to pay for shares in the acquisition.
The Kerzner family would become the top shareholder in the private company, according to an executive close to the deal, and the father-and-son team of Sol and Butch Kerzner would retain their jobs as chairman and chief executive.
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