hospitalitystyle.com

(September 2010) posted on Tue Sep 14, 2010 EDT

Harlow’s, Grand Victoria complexes being bought

Churchill Downs Inc. is continuing to beef up its presence in the casino market by entering a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Harlow's Casino Resort & Hotel in Greenville, Miss., for $138 million. In a smaller-scale deal, Las Vegas-based Full House Resorts said it is buying the Grand Victoria Casino & Resort in Rising Sun, Ind., for $43 million.

The three-year-old Harlow's complex includes a 33,000 square foot gaming floor with 841 slot machines, 23 table games and a poker room; a five-story, 105-room attached hotel; a 2,600-seat entertainment center; and three separate dining areas. “With the acquisition of Harlow's, we continue our diversification strategy across our racing, gaming and online business units,” said Robert Evans, president and ceo of Churchill Downs Inc., whose holdings include its namesake thoroughbred horse-racing track in Louisville, Ky., three other horse-racing tracks, and slot and gaming operations in Louisiana and Florida.

Meantime, Full House chairman and ceo Andre Hilliou said the Grand Victoria complex “is perfectly sized to complement our current business.” The complex has 40,000 square feet of gaming space, 1,400 slot and video poker machines, 37 gaming tables, a 201-room hotel with spa pool and meeting space, and five food and beverage outlets.

“The current property management [at Grand Victoria] is very strong; however, we believe we can leverage our knowledge and proven track record of managing properties catering to local customers in competitive environments,” said Hilliou, whose firm also owns or operates gaming complexes in Nevada, Michigan and Delaware. Grand Victoria one of three casino complexes in southeast Indiana, all of which will face added competition within a couple of years, when a casino operated by Harrah's is slated to open in nearby Cincinnati.