Dreamworld owner Ardent reveals restructure plans
DREAMWORLD owner Ardent Leisure is set to fold its holiday flirtation with a stapled company structure after announcing plans to reunite Ardent Leisure Trust and Ardent Leisure under one roof.
According to company chairman Dr Gary Weiss the merger would allow the newly formed company, Ardent Leisure Group, greater flexibility to fund investment into the growth of US-based Main Event and Dreamworld.
It would also make Ardent Leisure Group more attractive to a broader range of investors and reduce the regulatory uncertainty associated with stapled structures, he said.
The move came as no shock, with one analyst saying it had been flagged a while ago and would be well received.
The set up was a hangover from the company’s days in the Macquarie Bank tent, with the investment house having a penchant at that stage for establishing stapled unit structures.
It comes after the company reported a $88.6 million loss for the past financial year on the back of a drop in visitation to its blue riband attraction Dreamworld, with 1.658 million filing through the turnstiles compared to 1.663 million the year before.
The theme park reported revenue of $69.9 million, down 1.4 per cent for the same time last year, as the business continued to be impacted by the slow recovery post the Thunder River Rapids tragedy almost two years ago.
The proposal still has to jump a number of hurdles including securityholder approval, receipt of certain relief from ASIC and ASX, approval of the schemes by the Supreme Court of NSW, and gaining the consent of Ardent Leisure Group’s lending syndicate.
The company is planning on giving securityholders the chance to vote on the move at Ardent’s annual general meeting on November 20.