Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI) has announced that it has agreed to purchase all three Live! Casino properties from The Cordish Companies group.
The three properties are Live! Casino and Hotel Maryland, Live! Casino and Hotel Philadelphia, and Live! Casino Pittsburgh. The deal also includes the applicable long-term ground leases from any affiliates of The Cordish Companies.
GLPI has confirmed that according to the purchase agreement, Cordish will lease back all three properties and continue to manage and run all gaming operations at each of the Live! Casinos.
The deal is worth almost $1.8 billion and includes all real estate assets and a binding partnership agreement for all future casinos developments made by The Cordish Companies.
While the agreement includes all three casinos, deals will be finalized on an individual basis with the Maryland deal expected to go through by the end of 2021 and the Pennsylvania deals expected to close in early 2022. All deals will be subject to regulatory approvals prior to being finalized.
Speaking in a statement released by GLPI, Peter Carlino, Chairman and CEO of GLPI, said:
“We are excited to establish a relationship with The Cordish Companies, one of the country’s preeminent developers of large-scale experiential real estate projects, casinos, hospitality and entertainment districts. We have long admired Cordish for their creation of the highly successful ‘Live!’ brand across these entertainment, gaming and hospitality districts.
A crucial aspect of our transaction was Cordish’s continued commitment to operating with the same team, approach, and standard of excellence that has brought their casinos so much success. These new leases are expected to have strong rent coverage at an accretive cap rate while further expanding and diversifying our portfolio and marking a continuation of our strategy to build an industry leading, high quality tenant roster.
In addition to the real estate transaction for the three properties, we are excited to partner with Cordish on a range of future strategic opportunities that can leverage the financial and real estate development strengths and resources of both companies. The OP unit portion of the transaction consideration aligns our interests with the goal of building new value for our constituents.”
David Cordish, Chairman of The Cordish Companies, added:
“Cordish is delighted to be partnering with GLPI on this range of transactions, which align two recognised leaders in their respective industries. Live! is an iconic brand, and our commitment to our customers, team members and local communities as top priorities will continue unabated.”
Image credit: Andre Carrotflower / CC BY-SA 4.0
An experienced iGaming commentator and analyst based in New York City - Jenny reports on regulation and gambling industry news and events.