Speedway Motorsports Inc. and Sonic Financial enter into merger

SMI announced Wednesday that it and Sonic Financial Corp., along with a subsidiary of Sonic Financial, have entered into a definitive merger agreement for Sonic’s subsidiary to acquire all of the outstanding shares of SMI’s common stock for $19.75 per share.

On April 24, SMI announced it had received a non-binding offer from Sonic Financial, a company owned by Bruton Smith and his family, to acquire all outstanding shares of SMI’s common stock.

SMI shares closed up 0.96% at $18.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a 52-week high of $19.04 and a 52-week low of $13.47. SMI’s stock was at $13.94 on April 23, the day before the announcement of Sonic’s offer.

SMI operates eight tracks that host races in NASCAR’s Monster Energy Cup races – Charlotte Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Sonoma Raceway, Kentucky Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Smith, his family and related entities own, directly or indirectly, approximately 29 million shares of SMI, and control over 71% of the voting power.

The merger agreement was unanimously approved by the SMI’s board of directors upon the unanimous recommendation of a special committee comprised of independent and disinterested members of SMI’s board of directors.

Wednesday’s announcement puts SMI on a parallel course with NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. On May 22, ISC it had agreed to a $2 billion merger with NASCAR in a deal that should also be completed by the end of the year.

ISC currently owns 13 tracks which collectively hold 19 of the 36 events on the schedule of NASCAR’s premier Cup Series.

Once both deals are finalized, Dover (Del.) International Speedway would be the only track hosting Cup series events still held by a publicly-owned corporation.