The Smith family this morning revealed it is looking to take SMI private, announcing that the Sonic Financial that it privately owns has made a bid to acquire all of SMI's shares not already controlled by the family. The announcement this morning indicates that the privately owned Sonic Financial has made a bid to acquire such shares at $18.00 a bid, and that the family intends to keep and carry on the motorsports promoter business should the acquisition be successful. However, taking the company private could make an eventual sale easier, because the family would now fully own it and would no longer be subject to shareholder consideration.
SMI owns eight speedways and three dragstrips, along with scores of real estate and other auto-focused revenue streams. SMI has formed a special independent committee that will represent non-Smith shareholders during the process. This comes as the France family tries to take ISC private via NASCAR’s bid, and it would be another seismic step for the sport. SMI was trading at $13.94 heading into today’s trading.
