Sun International has turned over a new leaf in two key areas of its business: mergers & acquisitions and leadership.
Firstly, the South African gambling group has decided to pull the plug on its planned Peermont Holdings Proprietary Limited acquisition, citing regulatory timelines as the reason why the proposed transaction has been terminated.
The termination of the Peermont acquisition came just one day after Ulrik Bengtsson was officially appointed as CEO of Sun International, replacing Anthony Leeming.
Dates in conflict
In an address to shareholders, Sun International noted that its proposed acquisition of Peermont has been called off due to a conflict in dates between a hearing meeting probing the deal and a regulatory longstop of the transaction’s deadline.
Shareholders of the group approved the transaction back in March last year, but the proposed transaction was referred to the Competition Tribunal SA in October 2024 following the recommendation by the Competition Commission SA to the Competition Tribunal.
Within its recommendation, the Competition Commission stated that if the deal went through, it had the likelihood to “substantially prevent and/or lessen competition in the provision of casino (gambling) services” in South Africa and central Gauteng, in additon to significantly changing the market by reducing the number of casino operators from three to two.
“Post-merger, 92% of the casinos operating in South Africa would be owned by only two firms, further increasing concentration in an already highly concentrated market,” said the Competition Commission.
“New entry into this market is unlikely due to the limited availability of casino licenses. In central Gauteng in particular, there are no unallocated casino licenses. In addition, the merger will result in SISA owning and operating a number of casinos located in prime locations, which will give SISA a significant competitive advantage over its competitors.”
Despite this recommendation, the Competition Tribunal still had the power to approve the transaction, and this approval is a necessary step for the acquisition to be completed.
However, the Competition Tribunal has set its meeting date for its hearing and closing arguments for 2 October 2025, which is in conflict with the transaction’s regulatory longstop date, which is 15 September 2025.
As such, since the hearing date is after the regulatory longstop date, all parties have decided to immediately terminate the proposed acquisition.
New beginnings
As previously stated, Sun International’s termination of the Peermont acquisition occurred on the same week in which they officially welcomed Bengtsson as their new CEO. He has also been appointed as an Executive Director.
Bengtsson was confirmed as the group’s next CEO earlier this year in March, and he will be replacing Leeming, who has also retired as an Executive Director at Sun International but will remain with the company until the end of the year, working closely with his successor to ensure a smooth transition.
Sun International thanked Leeming for his contribution as CEO over the past eight years and noted that he will be stepping down as a member of the company’s Social and Ethics Committee, as well as its Risk Committee.
Bengtsson is bringing with him significant gaming experience to Sun International, as he was previously Group CEO of William Hill between September 2019 and September 2022 and CEO of Betsson between July 2012 and September 2017, in addition to being the company’s President from March 2016 to September 2017.
At the time of his initial appointment, Bengtsson said: “Sun International is an iconic leisure group with a proud heritage, and a unique growth opportunity to become a leading omnichannel player in the rapidly evolving global gaming landscape.
“I am thrilled to bring my experience and expertise to this fantastic organisation as Chief Executive and look forward to working with the board and colleagues to drive its continued success and chart a bold path forward into the future.”
Speaking on his departure from Sun International back in March, Leeming stated: “It has been an absolute privilege to lead Sun International over the past eight years.
“I would like to thank all of our stakeholders, including shareholders, the board and all the dedicated people of Sun International for their confidence in my leadership and support. I look forward to working closely with Ulrik during the transition period as he assumes leadership of the group.”
