Caesars Thins Louisiana Casino Portfolio with Belle of Baton Rouge Sale

Casino big Caesars Entertainment Inc. introduced Tuesday that it might offload the Belle of Baton Rouge riverboat on line casino from its portfolio of properties.

The firm has entered right into a definitive settlement to promote the Baton Rouge, Louisiana playing venue to CQ Holding Company, Inc. (Casino Queen) for an undisclosed quantity.

Caesars had a 15-year lease settlement with actual property funding belief Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI) for the riverboat on line casino. Caesars mentioned Tuesday that below the phrases of an amended lease settlement with GLPI, the Baton Rouge facility could be faraway from the GLPI Master Lease, and the hire funds to the REIT would stay unchanged.

GLPI would stay the proprietor of the land and buildings related with Belle of Baton Rouge after the transaction closes, it additionally turned recognized.

The deal is topic to regulatory approvals and different customary closing situations and is predicted to shut in mid-2021.

Caesars CEO Tom Reeg thanked their Baton Rouge crew members “for their hard work and dedication”, particularly throughout the coronavirus pandemic, and wished them “them the best under Casino Queen’s ownership.”

A Troubled Property

Caesars’ predecessor, Eldorado Resorts, and GLPI bought Belle of Baton Rouge in October 2018 as half of a bigger $1.85 billion deal for the acquisition of the complete Tropicana Entertainment property.

Eldorado took over the outdated Caesars this previous July to mix its whole portfolio of belongings with that of Caesars.

Eldorado and Caesars’ mixture secured approval from Louisiana regulators in January. However, Eldorado obtained some critical criticism over the state of its Belle of Baton Rouge property again then.

During a regulatory listening to on the Eldorado-Caesars tie-up, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board requested Mr. Reeg, who was on the time CEO of Eldorado, whether or not the mixed group could be as much as the duty to “make sure that you spread the attention to all the properties in all the states in which you operate.”

The regulator’s Chairman on the time, Ronnie Jones, additionally famous at that listening to that the state of Belle of Baton Rouge was unacceptable and that he couldn’t allow the property to “get lost in the weeds” on his watch.

Mr. Reeg advised regulators that they had been seeking to carry Belle of Baton Rouge on shore and into a close-by atrium that was as soon as occupied by a failed shopping center.

It remains to be unclear what plans the property’s new homeowners have for its future.

Caesars is within the course of of promoting two extra of its Louisiana properties. In September, the corporate introduced that it might unload Harrah’s Louisiana Downs Casino, Racing & Entertainment from its portfolio. Rubico Acquisition Corp. has agreed to buy the Bossier City racing and on line casino advanced for $22 million.

In addition, Caesars is about to promote Eldorado Resort Casino in Shreveport to Bally’s Corporation (previously Twin River Worldwide Holdings).

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