Ameristar Casinos Announces Agreement to Acquire Developer of Casino Resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana
March 14 2012 - 9:00AM
Marketwired
Ameristar Casinos, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASCA) today announced that it has
entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the equity
interests of Creative Casinos of Louisiana, L.L.C. ("Creative")
from Creative Casinos, LLC. Creative is the developer of a proposed
luxury casino resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana, which it planned
to brand as Mojito Pointe. This is the last remaining riverboat
gaming license available in Louisiana under current law. The
acquisition is subject to the approval by the Louisiana Gaming
Control Board on March 15, 2012 of an extension of the deadline for
Creative to commence construction of the property to July 20, 2012
and of certain design and scope changes that Ameristar believes
will enhance the competitiveness of the property.
The purchase price payable upon closing of the acquisition is
$32.5 million (inclusive of a $1 million deposit payable following
approval of the construction extension). Closing of the purchase is
subject to a number of customary conditions, including regulatory
approval and certain third-party consents.
The resort will be developed on a 242-acre site under a lease
from the Lake Charles Harbor & Terminal District adjacent to
the existing L'Auberge du Lac Casino Resort. Concept drawings for
the project as designed by Creative are substantially complete,
excluding the interior fit-out, and Creative has entered into a
guaranteed maximum price construction contract for the project.
As proposed by Ameristar, the resort will include a casino with
approximately 1,600 slot machines and 60 table games, a hotel with
at least 700 guest rooms (including 70 suites), a variety of food
and beverage outlets, an 18-hole golf course, a swimming pool and
spa and other resort amenities, and at least 3,000 parking spaces,
1,000 or more of which will be in a garage. Ameristar's plans
represent a significant expansion of Creative's design, which
contemplated a 400-room hotel (including 30 suites) and a garage
with 400 parking spaces. The existing license conditions require
Creative to invest at least $400 million in the casino project,
including the development of a showroom facility that Ameristar is
proposing to eliminate. In seeking the approval of the Louisiana
Gaming Control Board, Ameristar is proposing an increase in the
minimum investment commitment to $500 million. Ameristar expects to
open the resort in mid-2014.
"We believe the development of this project, which will cater to
patrons from the large and growing Houston metropolitan area as
well as other southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana
communities, represents an excellent opportunity for Ameristar's
growth and diversification. By bringing our best-in-class approach
to casino development and the guest experience to one of the
country's largest but most under-served gaming markets, we believe
we can create incremental value for our shareholders as well as
economic development and jobs for the Lake Charles community," said
Gordon Kanofsky, Ameristar's Chief Executive Officer. "We look
forward to sharing our vision for our Lake Charles resort with the
Louisiana Gaming Control Board as we seek its approval to allow us
to move forward with this project."
Forward-Looking Information This release
contains certain forward-looking information that generally can be
identified by the context of the statement or the use of
forward-looking terminology, such as "believes," "estimates,"
"anticipates," "intends," "expects," "plans," "is confident that,"
"will," "would," "should," "could" or words of similar meaning,
with reference to Ameristar or our management. Similarly,
statements that describe our future plans, objectives, strategies,
financial results or position, operational expectations or goals
are forward-looking statements. It is possible that our
expectations may not be met due to various factors, many of which
are beyond our control, and we therefore cannot give any assurance
that such expectations will prove to be correct. For a discussion
of relevant factors, risks and uncertainties that could materially
affect our future results, attention is directed to "Item 1A. Risk
Factors" and "Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011.
About Ameristar
Ameristar Casinos is an innovative casino gaming company
featuring the newest and most popular slot machines. Our 7,500
dedicated team members pride themselves on delivering consistently
friendly and appreciative service to our guests. We continuously
strive to increase the loyalty of our guests through the quality of
our slot machines, table games, hotel, dining and other leisure
offerings. Our eight casino hotel properties primarily serve guests
from Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana,
Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska and Nevada. We have been a public
company since 1993, and our stock is traded on the Nasdaq Global
Select Market. We generate more than $1 billion in net revenues
annually.
Visit Ameristar Casinos' web site at www.ameristar.com (which
shall not be deemed to be incorporated in or a part of this news
release).
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CONTACT: Tom Steinbauer Senior Vice President, Chief
Financial Officer Ameristar Casinos, Inc. 702-567-7000
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