Twin River announces new acquisitions
American casino operator Twin River Worldwide Holdings has announced that its estate now encompasses nine venues following the acquisition of a brace of riverboat properties from compatriot Eldorado Resorts.
World Casino Directory reports the New York-listed firm used an official Thursday press release to detail that it has completed the deals to purchase the Lady Luck Casino and Hotel Vicksburg with its 25,000 square foot gaming floor as well as the even larger Isle of Capri Casino Kansas City and has subsequently changed the pair’s names to Casino Vicksburg and Casino KC respectively.
Twin River Holdings Incorporated is moreover responsible for the Twin River Casino Hotel and Tiverton Casino Hotel in its home state of Rhode Island.
This is in addition to a trio of casinos in the Colorado community of Black Hawk.
The Providence-headquartered firm explained that the purchase of the Mississippi and Missouri properties was initially agreed just over a year ago for an aggregate price of around $230 million.
President and chief executive for Twin River Holdings George Papanier used the press release to release the news.
“We are very pleased to close on this transaction, the latest in our ongoing efforts to diversify our portfolio,” he said.
“Equally exciting are our three additional casinos under contract in Shreveport, Louisiana, Lake Tahoe, Nevada and Atlantic City, New Jersey.
“We see significant opportunities to create cross-marketing connections for customers at multiple locations nationwide.”
Twin River has proclaimed that Casino KC is readily accessible to suburban traffic due to being located at a premier location on the riverfront near downtown and features a 40,000 square foot gaming floor, offering a selection of 939 slots alongside 13 gaming tables.
Eldorado sells two properties
Casino operator Eldorado Resorts has unloaded two of its properties to rival Twin River Worldwide Holdings, Calvin Ayre reported last July.
Last Thursday, Eldorado announced that it had reached a deal to sell its Isle of Capri Casino Kansas City in Missouri and its Lady Luck Casino Vicksburg in Mississippi to TWH for $230 million in cash, subject to a working capital adjustment.
The deal, which remains subject to regulatory approvals, expected to close early next year.
Eldorado says it plans to use the cash for general corporate purposes, including its recent $17.3 billion acquisition of rival Caesars Entertainment.
That deal was expected to result in the trimming of multiple properties from the two firms’ respective property portfolios, and the cuts are likely far from over.
TWRH has been undergoing its own enlargement of late, including a deal for three Colorado casinos and its merger with Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment.
TWRH chief executive officer George Papanier said the two Eldorado venues were “a great fit for our portfolio” and would expand his company’s geographic reach into “attractive markets.”
TWRH owns and operates two Twin River casinos in Rhode Island under a long-term agreement with the Rhode Island Lottery, which under the state constitution is responsible for nearly game all games of chance.
IGT contract a source of conjecture
Last July, TWRH began raising hell about the state’s controversial no-bid deal with the Lottery’s tech supplier International Game Technology to extend IGT’s lottery contract, which allows IGT to provide 85 per cent of the electronic gaming machines at the two casinos.
TWRH executives have claimed that, of its three EGM suppliers, IGT’s are by far the worst revenue generators.
TWRH has also accused the state of side-stepping its own purchasing laws by not holding an open tender for the EGM contract.
