Written by Tim Ingham — SFX Entertainment boss Robert Sillerman was supposed to have taken the company private by now – but it hasn’t happened.
Sillerman missed his deadline on Friday (August 14) to buy the 62% of SFX he doesn’t currently own for $774m.
However, he clearly didn’t manage to raise the cash in time, which sent SFX’s value plummeting by more than a third.
The company lost 7% on its share price on Thursday, before falling by a wince-worthy 28.35% on Friday to an all-time low of $1.39 per share – a market cap of just $135.7m.
What this means is that US-based SFX is now stuck between a commitment to going private and Sillerman’s seeming inability to make that happen.
The next logical stage, then, is a fire sale – and according to SFX, that’s certainly an option.
“ROBERT SILLERMAN HAS AGREED TO… OBTAIN THE BEST AVAILABLE OFFER FOR SFX’S SHAREHOLDERS.”
- SFX ENTERTAINMENT STATEMENT
Here’s what the company told investors in a statement following Friday’s stock market nightmare:
“The special committee and its advisors will entertain offers for the entire Company as well as assets not central to the Company’s core business through at least October 2, 2015.
“Sillerman has agreed to cooperate with the special committee to obtain the best available offer for the Company’s shareholders.”
However, Sillerman remains interested in taking SFX private, said the board, either on his own or with outside backers.
Obviously, his ability to do so will have been helped by the fact that when he last agreed a buyback fee for the company, it was at $5.25 per share.
As of this morning (August 17), he’d have to pay less than a third of that price.
Alongside its huge live music brands such as Tomorrowland, one of the most prized assets within SFX’s control is Beatport.
The digital music platform caused alarm bells regarding Sillerman’s capability to buy back SFX last month, when it briefly froze payments to independent labels.
SFX acquired Beatport for $50m in 2013.
Click here to read from this article's source.
