Century Casinos has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the operations of Rocky Gap Casino Resort from Lakes Maryland Development for an estimated $56m.
Meanwhile, an affiliate of VICI Properties will acquire the real estate of the casino for around $204m – with Century Casinos amending its triple net lease agreement to add the Rocky Gap property.
Rocky Gap, which attracts over 500,000 annual visitors, is located in Flintstone, Maryland and boasts 270 acres and an 18-hole golf course, a 5,000 square-foot events center, a spa, as well as several outdoor activities.
The casino features 25,000 square feet of gaming floor, 630 slot machines, 16 table games, 198 hotel rooms and five food and beverage venues.
Recently, the property had $10m worth of investments made to its hotel, slot machines and sports lounge, with the potential to make further improvements to the casino and hotel.
“The addition of Rocky Gap is another important milestone in our pursuit to acquire prime US assets. With this acquisition and our pending acquisition of the Nugget Casino Resort in Nevada, we will oversee a US portfolio that reaches from east to west,” Erwin Haitzmann and Peter Hoetzinger, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Century Casinos remarked.
“We are looking forward to working with the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency to obtain gaming approvals and with the casino leadership and team members to effect a smooth transition and great future for Rocky Gap.”
The purchase price of $56m represents an EBITDA multiplier of 4.9x, excluding cost synergies and operational improvements and deducts annual rent from the VICI lease from EBITDA.
Rocky Gap recorded net operating revenues of $78m and adjusted EBITDA of $27m for the year ended December 31, 2021.
The transaction is anticipated to finalize in the middle of 2023, but is subject to regulatory and governmental approvals.
