Bally’s creates new ESG committee

The committee will “formulate ESG strategies and goals” for Bally’s, as well as identify and evaluate risks and impacts with ESG in mind and generally oversee sustainability practices.

It will be chaired by Robeson Reeves, president of the interactive division of Bally’s. In addition, Bally’s chair Soo Kim and chief executive Lee Fenton will sit on the committee, as will independent director Wanda Y Wilson.

“Bally’s is committed to expanding its role as a responsible leader in the gaming industry, serving as an integral partner in the communities in which we operate, and providing transparency to our investors and other stakeholders on ESG topics,” Reeves said. “Our recent accomplishments represent the first, important steps towards achieving this goal, and I look forward to providing updates as additional progress is made.”

The move is one of a number of steps that the business is taking to increase its focus on ESG. It has recently completed a business-wide sustainability audit, which it said will inform its ESG strategy. Bally’s is also set to publish a number of sustainability metrics, including statistics about energy consumption, responsible gambling stats and metrics about its anti-money laundering (AML) controls.

The operator has also increased the amount of funding it will provide to the Bally’s Foundation, which donated $3m to mental health causes in 2021.

The announcement comes as Bally’s considers a $2bn (£1.48bn/€1.77bn) takeover offer from Kim’s Standard General, which already holds a 20% stake in the business. Standard General submitted a proposal to acquire all of the remaining shares in the business for $38.00 each last month, and in response Bally’s created an independent special committee to review the bid, as the investment fund had requested.

Yesterday, the operator announced that it had retained Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc. as financial advisor and Potter Anderson & Corroon LLP as legal counsel for the proposal.