More trash talk from Joe Aston. I really hope they announce a stunning deal that puts him in his place.
Ardent Leisure down to three bidders
More than two months since Ardent Leisure (twice) extended the deadline for expressions of interest in its d'Albora Marinas division after
a major oil spill at its Rushcutters Bay site, and more than four months since Ardent's selling agent
Dan McVay said the transaction would be agreed by June and finalised in this current quarter, and more than five months since chairman
Neil Balnaves spurned a $100 million cash offer for the portfolio, then sunk additional capital into it, still no news.
We understand the EOIs did close, as last reported, at the end of May, but then you'd bloody well hope so, wouldn't you?! If there's such zealous interest in the asset (
book value $113 million), how much hassle would diligently identifying a preferred bidder involve?
Negotiations are now well advanced with three parties, with an announcement due "in the coming weeks", according to an insider. One of those is strongly rumoured to be a Melbourne family all too familiar to readers of BRW's Rich List.
Market talk also suggests potential US buyers are licking their lips at Ardent's Main Event division of fun parlours, whose stalling like-for-like earnings growth has been nauseating the company's institutional investors.
Meanwhile, Ardent is
running a sales promotion, with pop-up ads on YouTube and social media platforms: any new d'Albora tenant signing up for a year currently gets a bonus $500 fuel voucher. Presumably chief executive
Deborah Thomas is skimming her own disgorged BP Ultimate off Sydney Harbour with oversized soup ladles and doling it out gratis to maximise occupancy in the middle of a divestment process. Outstanding! It's obviously a standard seasonal sales promotion, but hey, our version is way funnier ...
