CasinoCityTimes.com

Home
Gaming Strategy
Featured Stories
News
Newsletter
Legal News Financial News Casino Opening and Remodeling News Gaming Industry Executives Search News Subscribe
Newsletter Signup
Stay informed with the
NEW Casino City Times newsletter!
Related Links
Related News
SEARCH NEWS:
Search Our Archive of Gaming Articles 
 

Churchill Downs announces deal for Peninsula Pacific assets

23 February 2022

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Churchill Downs Incorporated announced today that the company has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment LLC for total consideration of $2.485 billion. CDI will acquire all of P2E’s assets in Virginia and New York as well as the operations of its Sioux City casino property. The P2E Transaction is dependent on usual and customary closing conditions, including the Company obtaining approvals from the Virginia Racing Commission, the New York State Gaming Commission, and the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2022.

“This unique set of assets expands our geographic footprint and provides additional scale,” said Bill Carstanjen, Chief Executive Officer of CDI. “P2E has done an exceptional job developing and managing this collection of assets, which we are very excited to acquire and plan to strategically grow in the years ahead.”

Colonial Downs Racetrack and Virginia Historical Racing Entertainment Venues
CDI will acquire Colonial Downs Racetrack, a Thoroughbred racing facility in New Kent, Virginia, as well as six successful and growing “Rosie’s Gaming Emporium” historical horse racing facilities across Virginia. Rosie’s Gaming Emporium locations currently include Collinsville, Dumfries, Hampton, New Kent, Richmond and Vinton. These facilities currently have approximately 2,700 historical racing machines (“HRMs”). The transaction significantly expands the geographic diversity of CDI’s live and historical racing entertainment venues and reinforces CDI’s role as a national leader in historical horse racing.

del Lago Resort & Casino in Waterloo, New York
CDI will acquire del Lago Resort & Casino in Waterloo, New York. del Lago is a 96,000 sq. ft. casino with approximately 1,700 slot machines, 80 table games, a 205-room hotel, nine restaurants / bar areas, 758 covered parking spaces, a 6,000 sq. ft. sportsbook area, a 2,400-seat entertainment venue, and a 7,200 sq. ft. outdoor event venue.

Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Sioux City, Iowa
CDI will acquire the operations of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino - Sioux City in Iowa. Hard Rock Sioux City is a 45,000 sq. ft. casino with 639 slot machines, 20 table games, a 54-room hotel, 1,511 parking spaces with 530 covered, two live entertainment venues, a 100-piece music memorabilia collection, and a Hard Rock-branded sportsbook.

Under the terms of the P2E Transaction, P2E is expected to reach a definitive agreement to sell the real property associated with Hard Rock Sioux City (“Sioux City Property”) to a third party. CDI will acquire the operating company and lease the Sioux City Property from that third party. Following the closing, CDI will operate Hard Rock Sioux City and lease the Sioux City Property pursuant to lease terms negotiated prior to the closing. In the event P2E is unsuccessful in reaching a definitive agreement with a third party to purchase the Sioux City Property by a certain date, the Sioux City Property will be included in the P2E Transaction and the total consideration will increase to $2.75 billion.

Other Development Rights
Under Virginia law, CDI will have the opportunity to develop up to five additional historical racing entertainment venues in Virginia with collectively up to approximately 2,300 additional HRMs. As part of the P2E Transaction, CDI will also acquire the rights to build a large gaming resort (the “Dumfries Project”), with up to 1,800 HRMs in Northern Virginia. P2E previously announced plans to invest up to $400 million to build the initial phase of the Dumfries Project, which is scheduled to open in 2023.

CDI will also acquire the rights to develop Rosie’s Gaming Emporium in Emporia, the seventh historical racing entertainment venue under P2E’s Colonial Downs license. The Emporia facility, located along I-95 near the North Carolina border, will have 150 HRMs and is expected to open in 2023.

Also, included in the P2E Transaction are the rights to P2E’s ongoing effort in partnership with Urban One, to develop ONE Casino + Resort, a $565 million destination casino in Richmond, Virginia.

P2E’s gaming license in the State of Louisiana, and its casino development rights in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are not included in the transaction.

Valuation and Financing
The P2E Transaction purchase price represents a multiple of less than 9.0x Adjusted EBITDA. This purchase price multiple includes the incremental value from the recent opening and expansion of certain Virginia facilities and the incremental value that CDI expects to realize from the acquisition of the development rights related to historical horse racing in Virginia. For tax purposes, the acquisition will be treated as an asset purchase allowing CDI to realize incremental tax benefits which will provide additional cash flow and will enhance the overall economics of the transaction.

The P2E Transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to CDI’s free cash flow and diluted earnings per share. CDI will fund the P2E Transaction with a combination of new debt and cash on hand including pending proceeds from the sale of land near Calder Casino. Consolidated proforma bank covenant leverage is projected to be less than 4.2x upon completion of the P2E Transaction.

As previously disclosed, the Company is planning to use the proceeds from its pending sale of land near Calder Casino to structure aspects of this acquisition as an Internal Revenue Code §1031 transaction to defer the tax on the gain on sale.

Macquarie Capital served as the exclusive financial advisor and Sidley Austin LLP served as legal advisor to CDI.

< Gaming News