Operator News
US – Churchill Downs completes $2.75bn deal for Peninsula Pacific Entertainment’s assets
By Phil - 2 November 2022
Churchill Downs has now bought all the assets of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment for $2.75bn including its casinos in Virginia, New York and Sioux City, Iowa, and follows licensing approvals from the Virginia Racing Commission, the New York State Gaming Commission and the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.
“Today marks a significant moment in the evolution of Churchill Downs Incorporated,” said Bill Carstanjen, Chief Executive Officer of CDI. “This transaction meaningfully expands our geographic footprint to Iowa, New York and Virginia, introducing a very unique set of assets and attractive organic growth opportunities to our company. We are excited to welcome the teams from each of these well-established properties into Churchill Downs Incorporated.”
The P2E Acquisition includes Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent, Virginia, as well as six Rosie’s Gaming Emporium historical horse racing facilities across Virginia. Rosie’s locations currently include Collinsville, Dumfries, Hampton, New Kent, Richmond and Vinton, and includes approximately 2,700 historical racing machines.
It includes Del Lago Resort & Casino in Waterloo, New York, a 96,000 sq. ft. casino with approximately 1,700 slot machines, 80 table games, a 205-room hotel, nine restaurants / bar areas, 758 covered parking spaces, a 6,000 sq. ft. sportsbook area, a 2,400-seat entertainment venue, and a 7,200 sq. ft. outdoor event venue.
It also includes the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Sioux City, Iowa, a 45,000 sq. ft. casino with 639 slot machines, 20 table games, a 54-room hotel, 1,511 parking spaces, two live entertainment venues, a 100-piece music memorabilia collection, and a Hard Rock-branded sportsbook.
Churchill Downs will also now have the right to develop up to five additional HRM entertainment venues in Virginia with collectively up to approximately 2,300 additional HRMs.
It now owns the rights to build a new HRM entertainment venue with up to 1,800 HRMs in Dumfries, Virginia. The Dumfries project is located in northern Virginia with the initial phase expected to open in 2023.
It will also be able to develop a new HRM entertainment venue with up to 150 HRMs in Emporia, Virginia. The Emporio be able to a project, located along I-95 near the North Carolina border, is expected to open in 2023 as well as the rights to P2E’s ongoing effort, in partnership with Urban One, to develop ONE Casino + Resort, a $565m destination casino in Richmond, Virginia.
