Sun International to buy Peermont in $775m deal

JOHANNESBURG, March 20 (Reuters) – South African hotel chain Sun International on Friday announced plans to take over casino resort group Peermont for nearly 9.5 billion rand ($775 million).

To fund the acquisition, Sun intends to roll over nearly 3.9 billion rand of Peermont's senior debt while taking on a fresh facility of about 575 million rand, it said in a filing to regulators.

In addition, it plans to issue 10.5 million shares of 120 rand each of Sun stock to Peermont shareholders and a rights offer for a further 3.75 billion rand.

Sun said it would explore disposal of some small Peermont assets after closing the transaction. Should a deal to sell any before to the transaction's close be reached, then Sun's funding requirement will be reduced, it said.

Peermont has 13 properties in Botswana and South Africa, including Johannesburg's Emperors Palace.

Sun's medium-term objective is to create a group with fewer, larger, quality assets, it said.

($1 = 12.2598 rand) (Reporting by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura; Editing by Ed Stoddard)