Sun International
South African resort hotel chain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sun International is a South African gambling and hospitality company, founded by Sol Kerzner in 1967.[1]
Hospitality
| |
| Industry | Gambling Hospitality |
|---|---|
| Founded | 11 July 1967 |
| Founder | Sol Kerzner |
| Headquarters | Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa |
Area served | Southern Africa Chile |
Key people | Anthony Leeming (CEO) |
| Brands | SunBet Sun Slots Sun Vacation Club |
| Revenue |  R12.09B (2023) |
| R1.21B (2023) | |
| Total assets | R13.57B (2023) |
| Total equity |  R2.01B (2023) |
Number of employees | 7,340 (2023) |
| Website | https://suninternational.com |
Sun International owns diverse assets, including the Sun City resort in Ledig, in the North West Province, and an online gambling platform.[citation needed]
Specializing in gambling and hospitality, the company has 42.5% of the South African casino market share,[1] and owns or holds a significant interest in 11 out of the 38 operating casinos in South Africa.[2]
History
Their hotel business traces its roots back to 1967, when the Southern Sun Hotel Company was created when South African Breweries and South African businessman Sol Kerzner joined forces. By 1983, Southern Sun Hotels was operating 35 hotels, and generating a net income of $35 million.[citation needed]
At this time, South African Breweries split its hotel interests into two and Sun International, headed by Sol Kerzner, retained all of the casino hotels located in the areas that South Africa had designated as "independent homelands" and had Southern Sun as a 20% stakeholder.[citation needed]
Sol Kerzner sold his shares in Southern Sun to focus on Sun International (South Africa).[citation needed] Southern Sun retained the company's other hotels in South Africa, and remained focused on the hotel market rather than casinos.[citation needed]
1984 saw the commencement of Kersaf Investments Limited, a company that took great interest in Sun International (South Africa). This commencement was by a scheme of arrangement, such that Sun International would form one of Kersaf's subsidiaries.[1][non-primary source needed]
In 2000, Southern Sun sold its stake in Sun International to Kersaf Investments Limited, who then continued to acquire minority interests in Sun International.[1]
In 2004, Kersaf Investments Limited merged with Sun International to form Sun International Limited, the company that exists today.[3] In early 2015, Sun International sold its hotels in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Zambia to Minor International.[4] Since mid-2015, these have been run as hotels of the Avani Group.[5] As of 2023, Sun International Limited owns or is involved in 13 hotels, casinos, and resorts.[6]
Properties
Today, Sun International's operations include integrated resorts, luxury hotel products, limited payout machine slot routes, as well as casinos.[citation needed]
| Country | Location | Resort |
|---|---|---|
 Nigeria |
Lagos | The Federal Palace Hotel |
 South Africa |
Brakpan | Carnival City Casino and Entertainment World |
| Kimberley | Flamingo Casino | |
| Cape Town | Grand West Casino | |
| Worcester | Golden Valley Casino | |
| Polokwane | Meropa Casino and Entertainment World | |
| uMhlanga | Sibaya Casino and Entertainment Kingdom | |
| Ledig | Sun City | |
| Pretoria | Sun Bet Arena at Time Square Casino | |
| Port Elizabeth | The Boardwalk Casino and Entertainment World | |
| near Port Edward | Wild Coast Sun | |
| Bloemfontein | Windmill Casino and Entertainment Centre |
Sun City Resort plays host to the Nedbank Golf Challenge annually.[6]