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."