GAMBLING INSIDER

US-based Boyd Gaming Corporation has today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, for a fee of $280.5m.

Valley Forge Casino Resort currently has over 500 hotel rooms, eight restaurants and bars and a 40,000-square-foot casino with 600 slot machines and 50 table games. It has more than 100,000 square feet of meeting, convention and exhibit space and is located 20 miles west of Philadelphia.

Following the passage of gaming expansion legislation by the state last month, Valley Forge eliminated its customer admission fee, announcing plans to add a further 250 slot machines in early 2018. The deal is expected to complete during the third quarter of 2018.

This will be Boyd’s first casino purchase in Pennsylvania, and follows the announcement that the company would also purchase the Ameristar Kansas City and Ameristar St. Charles in Missouri; Belterra Casino Resort in Indiana; and Belterra Park in Ohio from Pinnacle Entertainment for a combined fee of $575m earlier this week.

In a statement announcing the acquisition, Keith Smith, President and CEO of Boyd Gaming said: "With the successful completion of our acquisitions of Valley Forge and the Pinnacle assets, Boyd Gaming will gain direct access to four of the nation's largest gaming markets – Philadelphia, St. Louis, Kansas City and Cincinnati – with a combined population of nearly 10 million adults.

“We will expand our nationwide presence, operating 29 properties across 10 states. We believe this expansion will help drive additional growth throughout our nationwide portfolio, as we market our destination properties to these new customers in the Midwest and Northeast."