Caesars REIT completes acquisition of Louisiana’s Margaritaville Resort Casino, leases property to Penn National Gaming
VICI Properties announced Wednesday that it has completed the acquisition of Margaritaville Resort Casino in Bossier City, Louisiana for $261 million in cash. The company has also leased the property to casino operator Penn National Gaming.
VICI is the real estate investment trust that spun off Las Vegas gaming powerhouse Caesars Entertainment Corp. as part of the latter company’s lengthy Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.
VICI said yesterday that it has paid approximately $261 million for the land and real estate assets of Margaritaville Resort Casino. The property opened doors in 2013 and is the newest facility in the Bossier/Shreveport gaming market. It occupies 4 acres of fee land and nearly 30 acres of leased land. The fee land features a 26,500-square-foot casino floor with 1,215 slot machines and 50 gaming tables, a 395-room hotel, 6 restaurants and food and beverage facilities, and a 1,000-seat theater, among other amenities. The leased land features a parking with 1,500 spaces.
While VICI acquired the land and real estate assets of the hotel and casino resort, Penn National bought the operational assets of the property for $115 million in cash, bringing the aggregate purchase price to $376 million.
Lease Agreement
With the transaction’s closure, Penn National entered a triple-net lease agreement with VICI. The initial term of the agreement is 15 years, with four five-year renewal options. Penn National is set to pay annual rent of $23.2 million.
Commenting on the recent completion of the deal, VICI President and Chief Operating Officer John Payne said that closing the acquisition in partnership with Penn National was “a meaningful achievement coming within 15 months of the company’s formation.” The official continued that the deal represented the first step of their strategy to diversify their tenant roster with “best-in-class gaming operators.”
VICI said that the purchase of Margaritaville Resort Casino, it has deployed all net proceeds it raised in its initial public offering. The company’s IPO was completed on January 31. It sold 60.5 million shares at a price of $20 per share, raising more than $1.21 billion.
The Margaritaville Resort Casino acquisition was the second transaction VICI has completed over the past two weeks. In late December, the company announced that, together with Caesars, it has completed the purchase of all land and real estate assets of Harrah’s Philadelphia and has leased those back.
Harrah’s Philadelphia is located in Chester, Pennsylvania. The property spreads over 2 million square feet and features 2,450 slot machines and 110 table games, food and beverage facilities and parking garages.
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