Ardent Leisure agrees $26 million shareholder class action settlement following Dreamworld ride deaths

Ardent Leisure is to pay $26 million to settle a shareholder class action lawsuit arising from the deaths of four Dreamworld guests in 2016.

The death of four people on the Gold Coast theme park’s Thunder River Rapids Ride on 25th October 2016 saw Dreamworld report a subsequent massive decline in visitation. This saw Ardent report a $50 million loss in February 2017, incurring costs of $95 million as a result as attendance dropped by 27%.

About 300 shareholders claimed in June 2020 that Ardent Leisure misled investors about safety measures and corporate governance standards causing Ardent's shares to trade at an artificially inflated price.

In a statement to the ASX this morning, Ardent Leisure said it settled the class action in the best commercial interests of the company, following mediation with the shareholders involved.

The statement advised “the settlement (which is subject to Court approval) involves an all-inclusive payment of $26m to the applicants and is on the basis that there no admission of liability.

"The company will incur a one-off cost of approximately $4m in connection with the settlement.

"The balance of the settlement payment is fully insured."

The settlement is more that 10 times greater than that paid to the family of Cindy Low, who died in the incident.

Last December, the Brisbane Supreme Court awarded Low’s family $2.1 million.

A Coronial Inquest into the four deaths found there were a series of failures at Dreamworld, including safety and maintenance system described as "rudimentary at best" and "frighteningly unsophisticated".

Ardent Leisure pleaded guilty to three breaches of workplace health and safety laws and was fined $3.6 million in September 2020. This was the biggest workplace fine in Queensland's history.