Investors Snap Up Tropicana Entertainment For $1.85B From Carl Icahn
Gaming and Leisure Properties has acquired the real estate assets of six casino properties from Tropicana Entertainment for $1.21B. The transaction was part of an overall sale of Tropicana by investment mogul Carl Icahn for $1.85B.
Concurrent with the deal, Eldorado Resorts will acquire the casino operations of the properties and lease the real estate from Gaming and Leisure Properties.
The new master lease inked between Gaming and Leisure Properties and Eldorado will be for a 15-year initial term and four five-year renewal periods, with initial annual rent at $110M.
Eldorado will pay the remaining $640M of the purchase price of Tropicana Entertainment to Icahn Enterprises. Last week Icahn also sold auto parts maker Federal-Mogul to Tenneco Inc. for $5.4B.
The six assets trading hands are Tropicana Atlantic City, Tropicana Evansville in Indiana, Lumiere Place in St. Louis, Tropicana Laughlin in Nevada, Trop Casino Greenville in Mississippi and The Belle of Baton Rouge.
The combined properties include 350K SF of casino space, 7,416 slot machines, 237 table games and 4,993 hotel rooms.
Both Gaming and Leisure Properties and Eldorado have been expanding aggressively as of late. Wyomissing, Pennsylvania-based Gaming and Leisure, a REIT that specializes in the gaming industry, acquired Pinnacle Entertainment’s properties in 2016 for about $1.7B. Last year, Reno, Nevada-based Eldorado bought Isle of Capri Casinos, which operated 13 properties at the time of the sale, for $1.1B.
