Churchill Downs agrees to acquire Colonial Downs
Churchill Downs Inc. has agreed to acquire the owner of Colonial Downs for $2.4 billion.
Louisville, Ky.-based CDI said in a news release that it entered a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment LLC.
CDI will acquire all of P2E’s assets in Virginia and New York as well as the operations of its Sioux City casino property. The transaction requires state agency approvals and is expected to close by the end of this year.
“This unique set of assets expands our geographic footprint and provides additional scale,” Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI, said in the release. “P2E has done an exceptional job developing and managing this collection of assets, which we are very excited to acquire and plan to strategically grow in the years ahead.”
As part of the deal CDI will acquire Colonial Downs Racetrack, a Thoroughbred racing facility in New Kent, Va., as well as six Rosie’s Gaming Emporium historical horse racing facilities across Virginia. These facilities currently have about 2,700 historical racing machines. CDI said in the release that the transaction significantly expands the geographic diversity of its live and historical racing entertainment venues.
CDI will acquire del Lago Resort & Casino in Waterloo, New York and the operations of Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Sioux City, Iowa.
Other Development Rights
Under Virginia law, CDI will have the opportunity to develop up to five additional historical racing entertainment venues in Virginia with a total of about 2,300 additional HRMs. CDI Also will acquire the rights to build a large gaming resort (the “Dumfries Project”), with up to 1,800 HRMs in Northern Virginia. P2E previously announced plans to invest up to $400 million to build the initial phase of the Dumfries Project, which is scheduled to open in 2023.
CDI will also acquire the rights to develop Rosie’s Gaming Emporium in Emporia, the seventh historical racing entertainment venue under P2E’s Colonial Downs license. The Emporia facility will have 150 HRMs and is expected to open in 2023.
Also, included in the P2E Transaction are the rights to P2E’s ongoing effort in partnership with Urban One, to develop ONE Casino + Resort, a $565 million casino in Richmond, Virginia.
P2E’s gaming license in Louisiana and its casino development rights in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, are not included in the transaction.