Century Casinos has entered into an agreement for Vici Properties to acquire four of its Canadian properties through subsidiaries.
The deal covers the real estate assets of the Century Canadian portfolio, made up of Century Casino & Hotel Edmonton, Century Casino St. Albert and Century Mile Racetrack and Casino in Edmonton, Alberta and Century Downs Racetrack and Casino in Calgary, Alberta.
The aggregate purchase price of the properties will total CA$221.7m (US$164.4m), which includes the CA$192.3m amount to be paid to Century Casinos' subsidiaries.
A further CA$29.4m will be required to acquire the fee real estate interest in Century Downs.
Last month, Century Casinos acquired the full operations of The Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nevada.
Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, Co-CEOs of Century Casinos, said: "We are pleased to extend our good partnership with VICI to our Canada portfolio.
"This transaction unlocks the real estate value of our Canadian properties while continuing our Canadian operations and provides us with greater financial flexibility as we continue to grow.
“We intend to use the sale proceeds to fund improvements at the Nugget and for general corporate purposes.”
When the transaction closes, Vici will add the Century Canadian Portfolio to its master lease agreement between itself and its subsidiaries.
The rent will also increase by CA$17.3m and the master lease will expect to run for the full 15-year initial base term.
Haitzmann and Hoetzinger continued: “We are also looking at the potential to apply some proceeds to paydown debt under our credit agreement and/or to return funds to shareholders through stock repurchases and/or a special dividend. We continue to evaluate the optimal use of our capital."
