Issue 276
December 26, 2005 - January 1, 2006
Volume 5
page 2
 

Century Casinos Announces UK Casino Project
Press Release

CROYDON, London - In its first move into the UK, Century Casinos, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNTY; Vienna Stock Exchange) today announced plans to develop and operate a casino in Croydon, greater London, UK.

Century Casinos' partner in the project is the Westmead Business Group Limited, owner and operator of the Airport House and the Aerodrome Hotel in Croydon. The project will comprise a Large Casino (as defined in the UK Gambling Act 2005) with a customer area of at least 16,000 square feet for a minimum of 30 gaming tables and 150 slot machines, an expansion of the hotel to 150 rooms, two restaurants and several bars, a health club, an events and conference center for 300 guests, the existing airport museum as well as fully serviced office suites.

The Aerodrome Hotel in Croydon was opened in 1928 to serve Croydon Airport, the world's first international airport and is one of the finest hotels in Croydon. Mainly catering for airline passengers and crews, many famous people stayed in the hotel, including King George VI, Amy Johnson, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin. It is ideally located on the A23, with quick and easy access to central London (30 minutes) by road or rail, the UK motorway network via the M25 and M23, and the airports of Gatwick (20 minutes) and Heathrow (45 minutes). More than 700,000 people with a disposable income that is higher than the UK average live within a 20 minutes drive of the location.

"The casino project at the Airport House and Aerodrome Hotel in Croydon promises to become one of the UK's top new mid-size casino destinations," said Peter Hoetzinger, Co CEO and President of Century Casinos, Inc. "The provisions of the new Gambling Act, allowing new casinos to offer table games, slot machines and entertainment on an international level, together with the excellent location and demographics of the proposed site, make this project a natural location for our proposed first UK casino development," Hoetzinger added.

John Power, Chairman of the Westmead Business Group, said: "The regeneration of the Aerodrome Hotel will have a positive impact on the economy of Croydon and the south London area. We are delighted to be working with Century Casinos to make this happen and to provide Croydon with high-class casino entertainment facilities."

Westmead Business Group and Century Casinos will cooperate to secure planning and zoning permission for the proposed development and make applications for operating and personal casino licenses under the new UK Gambling Act as soon as the newly established Gambling Commission accepts such applications (estimated in the second half of 2006).

About Century Casinos, Inc.:

Century Casinos is an international casino entertainment company that owns and operates Womacks Casino and Hotel in Cripple Creek, Colorado; owns and operates The Caledon Hotel, Spa & Casino near Cape Town, South Africa; operates the casinos aboard the Silver Wind, Silver Cloud, Silver Whisper, The World of ResidenSea, and the vessels of Oceania Cruises; and owns 50% of, and provides technical casino services to the Casino Millennium in the Marriott Hotel in Prague, Czech Republic; and owns a majority interest in, and has begun construction on, casino and hotel developments in Central City, Colorado and Edmonton, Canada. The Company continues to pursue other international projects in various stages of development.

 

 

 


Harrah's unloads Gulfport casino:

As reported by Gaming Wire

GULFPORT, Mississippi - Harrah's Entertainment reduced its losses in the hurricane-ravaged Mississippi Gulf Coast, agreeing on Tuesday to sell what's left of the Grand Casino Gulfport to owners of another destroyed casino.

In announcing the deal, Harrah's said it would concentrate on rebuilding the Grand Casino Biloxi, which was also destroyed by Hurricane Katrina on Aug. 29. The massive storm damaged or demolished 13 casinos in the Mississippi communities of Biloxi, Gulfport, and Bay St. Louis, wiping out 17,000 jobs.

Harrah's didn't disclose a sales price for the remaining Grand Casino Gulfport assets and the 14-acre site to Gulfside Casino Partnership, which owned and operated the Copa Casino. However, the agreement calls for all assets to be sold in "as is" condition and Harrah's will retain all insurance proceeds.

Before Katrina hit, the Grand Casino included 1,000 hotel rooms. One of casino's two barges was washed across Highway 90 and was imploded by the Mississippi Department of Transportation to reopen the road. The main casino, which had 102,000 square feet of gaming space, was damaged beyond repair.

The Copa Casino, which was demolished by construction crews following the hurricane, didn't operate a hotel and lost its 41,000-square-foot casino barge in the storm.

The transaction, which is expected to close by March, allows the Copa owners to dominate the Gulfport casino market.

"By selling these assets to our neighbors in Gulfport, we will give the owners of the Copa Casino site the additional space they need to develop an ambitious project of their own," said Anthony Sanfilippo, president of Harrah's Central Division.

Harrah's had planned to renovate the Grand Casino Biloxi into a Horseshoe brand casino before the storm. The Biloxi site had a 134,000-square-foot floating casino and 975 hotel rooms.

The company is expected to rebuild the casino portion over land now that Mississippi's new gaming regulations allow casinos to move on shore. The company did not a disclose a rebuilding timetable.

Three of the destroyed Biloxi casinos are expected to reopen by next week, with the Imperial Palace opening Thursday.

In November, the state's gaming revenues declined 38.1 percent from the prior year because of the closed Gulf Coast properties. Casino in Mississippi River towns of Tunica and Vicksburg earned $134.8 million from gamblers, compared with $217.9 million a year ago.

World Gaming Completes Acquisition
Press Release

LONDON - The Board of World Gaming is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of the Sportsbetting.com Group.

All conditions required to be met prior to completion have now been met.

Funding for the acquisition includes a $40 million term loan from Barclays PLC plus the previously announced placing of shares to raise pnds stlg 6 million for the Group before expenses. In addition, Barclays has provided a revolving facility of up to $5 million.

Commenting on the acquisition, CEO, Daniel Moran said: "The acquisition of the Sportsbetting.com Group is a significant extension of the Group's business. The limited integration plus the strong proven growth makes this acquisition an ideal fit for continued organic and acquisitive growth of the Group."

Jamie Grant, Director Barclays Leveraged Finance commented: "We at Barclays are very pleased to support World Gaming in this strategic acquisition. The compelling business proposition and the enthusiasm of the management team ensures that World Gaming is now well placed to further leverage its business assets, and benefit from future market growth."

Howie Mandel

MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre: Howie Mandel, a mainstay of the American comedy scene, will be performing at MGM Grand's Hollywood Theatre January 12th through the 18th. Ranging from television, film, and stage, Mr. Mandel's versatile career includes the Emmy-Award winning "St. Elsewhere," the international (and also Emmy nominated) "Bobby's World," "The Howie Mandel Show," "Hidden Howie," and most recently host of the international hit game show "Deal or No Deal" which aired this month.

Date: January 12 - 18

Time: 9 p.m.

Ticket Price: $60

For more information: 1-866-80-SHOW

 
Tell us what you think about our newsletter.
Copyright © 2000-2005 Casino City. All rights reserved
Casino City is a trademark of CasinoPromote.com. Please read our Disclaimer of Warranty