THE announcement last week that Sun International would buy Peermont Global for R9.4bn took the market by surprise, but Sun International had for some time had low-key, on-off discussions about buying South Africa’s third-largest casino group.“Sun International had a look at Peermont many years ago. It was always a case of price, and other issues had to be sorted out,” said De Wet Schutte, research analyst at Avior Research.“At various stages they’ve had talks with Peermont ... the deal has been in the making for a number of years. It was a matter of getting the timing right, also because Sun International has been quite active on the deal-making front over the past two years.”Sun International is the country’s second-largest casino and hotel operator after Tsogo Sun. But CEO Graeme Stephens, who has a wealth of investment banking experience, has been bulking up the business, refining its corporate structure and cutting costs since he took the hot seat two years ago.Sun Internationa...
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