08/05/2021
Citizens Advises Bally’s Corporation on its Acquisitions of Tropicana Evansville and Jumer’s Casino & Hotel
PROVIDENCE, RI – Citizens M&A Advisory announced today that it served as financial advisor to Bally’s Corporation (NYSE: BALY) on its acquisition of Tropicana Evansville in Evansville, IN, from Caesars Entertainment Corporation, as well as the acquisition of Jumer’s Casino & Hotel in Rock Island, IL, from Delaware North Companies Gaming & Entertainment, Inc.
As previously announced, Bally’s acquired Tropicana Evansville for $140 million. As part of the transaction, an affiliate of Gaming & Leisure Properties, Inc. (“GLPI”) acquired the real estate associated with Tropicana Evansville for $340 million, which it is leasing to Bally’s for $28 million per year, subject to escalation. GLPI also acquired the real estate associated with Bally’s Dover Downs casino for $144 million, which it is leasing back to Bally’s for $12 million per year, also subject to escalation. As a result of this structure, no cash outlay was required by Bally’s at closing. Tropicana Evansville has 79,000 square feet of enclosed space, including 45,000 square feet of casino gaming, four dining venues, a racetrack and sportsbook. Bally’s also announced the completion of its acquisition of Jumer’s Casino & Hotel for $120 million, which was funded using available borrowings under its Citizens-led revolving credit facility.
George Papanier, president and chief executive officer of Bally’s Corporation, said: “The Citizens M&A team continues to be an invaluable strategic advisor to us as we comb the U.S. landscape for attractive, accretive and strategic opportunities to expand our gaming footprint and enhance our interactive offerings. The Evansville and Jumers properties represent excellent additions to our portfolio and allow Bally’s access into two new states at attractive valuations. We are particularly excited to gain access to the attractive Indiana gaming market, in which we will look to significantly advance our mobile and online sports betting and iGaming initiatives."
Curt Magleby, managing director of Citizens’ Gaming, Lodging and Commercial Real Estate team, said: “Bally’s Corporation is a significant relationship to Citizens on multiple levels. We value our role as a critical financing partner to the company as they grow their physical and online platforms, as well as our status as trusted strategic and financial advisor to the company in their ongoing M&A initiatives. We look forward to continuing to deliver best-in-class, industry-centric financial advisory expertise in future transactions.”
Bally's Corporation is a leading regional casino-entertainment company with a growing omni-channel presence of online sports betting and iGaming offerings in the United States. It currently owns and manages 14 casinos across 10 states, a horse racetrack in Colorado and has access to online sports betting (OSB) licenses in 14 states. It also owns Bet.Works, a first-in-class business-to-business-to-consumer sports betting platform, Monkey Knife Fight, the fastest-growing daily fantasy sports site in North America, and SportCaller, a leading global business-to-business free-to-play game provider.
With more than 6,000 employees, Bally’s operations, pro forma for pending acquisitions, include 15,558 slot machines, 465 table games and 5,355 hotel rooms. Upon closing the previously announced Tropicana Las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV) transaction, as well as completing the construction of a casino near the Nittany Mall in State College, PA, Bally's will own and manage 16 casinos across 11 states.
Citizens M&A Advisory specializes in middle-market mergers and acquisitions. Citizens combines sector intelligence with a client-focused approach to realize our clients' true value. The Citizens team has closed more than 170 transactions in the last five years and has more than 60 M&A professionals specializing in a range of industries across the United States. Citizens M&A Advisory is part of Citizens Capital Markets, Inc., a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group (NYSE: CFG).
About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest financial institutions, with $185.1 billion in assets as of June 30, 2021. Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions. Citizens helps its customers reach their potential by listening to them and by understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas and solutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens provides an integrated experience that includes mobile and online banking, a 24/7 customer contact center and the convenience of approximately 3,000 ATMs and approximately 1,000 branches in 11 states in the New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest regions. Consumer Banking products and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth management and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, Citizens offers a broad complement of financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as loan syndication, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and equity capital markets capabilities. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com or visit us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.
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