Twin River Worldwide is set to acquire three new casino properties.
Twin River Worldwide Holdings has announced plans to acquire three casino properties from Caesars Entertainment and Eldorado Resorts in Louisiana, New Jersey and Nevada.
What’s covered in the deal?
Under the agreement, Twin River will take over operations of the Eldorado Shreveport Resort and Casino in Louisiana and the Mont Bleu Casino Resort & Spa in Lake Tahoe, Nevada for an aggregate purchase price of $155m.
Twin River will also acquire Caesars Entertainment’s Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel & Casino in New Jersey for $25m in cash.
By acquiring these venues, Twin River will expand its footprint into three US states and add a combined 3,318 slots, 2,092, hotel rooms and 176 tables to its existing portfolio.
The deal to acquire Bally’s Atlantic City, which was struck with Caesars and the real estate investment trust Vici Properties, covers certain assets within the venue. Twin River will also acquire a license to build a sportsbook and launch online sports betting and casino gaming from the property.
Each of the deals is subject to Eldorado completing its acquisition of Caesars Entertainment and is also subject to Federal Trade Commission clearance. According to the announcement, the Shreveport and Mont Bleu transactions are expected to close in the first half of 2021 and the Bally’s transaction is expected to close in late 2020 or early 2021.
Prior to this announcement, Eldorado entered an agreement to sell the properties to Maverick Gaming, however, that agreement was terminated as a result of the Twin River deal and the deposits paid by Maverick have now been returned.
Comments from Twin River
George Papanier, President and CEO of Twin River said: “These acquisitions represent a unique opportunity to continue executing on our expansion and diversification strategy at attractive valuation multiples.
“We see significant opportunities to create cross-marketing connections for customers at multiple Twin River locations, and we look forward to applying our proven operating and integration approach to drive incremental revenues and cash flows.”
Soo Kim, Chairman of the Twin River Board of Directors, said: “This is a great deal for Twin River, and diversifies our business across eight states. It reaffirms our commitment to employees, customers and the communities in which we operate that Twin River will be stronger than ever.”
Twin River plans to fund the transaction with a combination of cash and by upsizing its existing credit facility. Citizens Capital Markets served as financial advisors while Jones Day served as the legal advisor for the transactions.
Papanier added: “Despite the uncertainties presented by the current health crisis, we continue to execute our strategy to position Twin River for long-term growth and profitability. Completion of these transactions will meaningfully enhance our financial profile, while strengthening our presence in a number of key geographic markets.”
