Eldorado Resorts to sell three casino resort properties for $385m

US casino hotel company Eldorado Resorts has agreed to sell Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort in New Cumberland, West Virginia, Isle Casino Cape Girardeau in Cape Girardeau and Lady Luck Casino Caruthersville in Caruthersville, both located in Missouri for $385 million in two separate agreements.

As per the agreement terms, Century Casinos will acquire the operating assets of the three casino properties for nearly $107 million. In another deal, VICI Properties will buy the land and real estate assets of the three properties for about $278 million.

Isle Casino Cape Girardeau, which opened in 2012, comprises a dockside casino featuring 41,500sft of casino space, 863 gaming machines, 20 table games, a pavilion, three dining venues, and an entertainment center. The property also has a variety of non-gaming amenities such as an events center.

Lady Luck Caruthersville is a riverboat casino along the Mississippi River, which has been opened in 1995. It has a dockside casino featuring 21,000sft of casino space, 507 gaming machines, nine table games, a 40,000sft pavilion, and two dining venues.

Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort is a hotel, casino, entertainment and also a live thoroughbred horse racing facility. The property opened in 1951 with the casino inaugurated in 1994. It has a 357-room hotel, nearly 1,486 gaming machines, 36 table games, a poker room, five dining venues, and a racetrack.

John Payne – President and Chief Operating Officer of VICI Properties said: “This transaction demonstrates VICI’s ability to execute accretive acquisitions that bring value to our shareholders, while also diversifying our tenant base and expanding our geographic footprint into a new market, West Virginia.

“We are excited to partner with Century, as they are expert operators of small to mid-sized regional assets and are beginning their journey of expansion into the U.S. market. Cape Girardeau, Caruthersville and Mountaineer are competitive local assets in stable regional markets and are a great fit for Century’s growing portfolio. The nature of this transaction allows both Century and Eldorado to realize strategic value for their respective shareholders, while also furthering our strategic goals to diversify and grow our portfolio in an accretive manner.”

The two deals, which are subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, are likely to be closed in early 2020.

Eldorado Resorts to divest three casino resort properties for $385m. Photo courtesy of Lvtalon/Wikipedia.org.

According to Tom Reeg – CEO of Eldorado Resorts said, the deals to sell Mountaineer Casino, Lady Luck Casino Caruthersville and Isle Casino Cape Girardeau are in line with the company’s continued focus on optimizing the results from its regional gaming platform, creating growth via strategic acquisitions and realizing value via sales.

Tom Reeg added: “The sale price for these three properties represents an attractive multiple of their aggregate trailing twelve months cash flows and provides additional capital that we expect to deploy for shareholder value enhancing initiatives.

“Following the completion of these transactions, Eldorado will continue to benefit from our geographically diverse portfolio of regional gaming assets that we believe have potential for further margin growth and increased cash flow.”