Bally’s seeks to repurchase $190M worth of its shares

PROVIDENCE – Bally’s Corp., the Rhode Island-based company that operates the state’s two casinos, is looking to spend as much as $190 million to buy back a large chunk of its common shares.

The company has made a tender offer that will use a “Dutch auction” to determine the lowest price per share it can pay to get the most common shares. The offer will expire on July 22.

If the tender offer is fully subscribed, between 16.4% to 18.8% of Bally’s issued and outstanding shares will be repurchased, the company said. All shares accepted in the tender offer will be purchased at the same price. Depending on the results of the auction, the price could range between $19.25 and $22 per share, Bally’s said. 

The news of the tender offer pushed the share price on the New York Stock Exchange to $20.90 as of 12:30 p.m Friday, more than a 10% jump over the $18.87 price at the close of trading on Thursday.

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The share price has been steadily declining since reaching a high of $71.58 in March 2021.

Bally’s – which has been rapidly expanding its gambling holdings and recently was given the go-ahead to build a $1.7 billion casino in Chicago – said it intends to fund the purchase of shares and to pay the fees and expenses in connection with the offer with cash on hand and existing financial resources, including, if necessary, borrowings under its revolving credit facility.

Bally’s board of directors determined recently it should peruse the offer in light of market changes. Bally’s currently expects to return capital to shareholders in the future, including through its previously announced $350 million capital return program.