US – Churchill Downs completes a $2.75 billion deal to acquire the assets of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment

Following license approvals from the Virginia Racing Commission, the New York State Gaming Commission, and the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, Churchill Downs has now acquired all of Peninsula Pacific Entertainment’s assets for $2.75 billion, including its casinos in Virginia, New York, and Sioux City, Iowa.

“Today marks a significant moment in the evolution of Churchill Downs Incorporated,” said Bill Carstanjen, Chief Executive Officer of CDI. “This transaction meaningfully expands our geographic footprint to Iowa, New York and Virginia, introducing a very unique set of assets and attractive organic growth opportunities to our company. We are excited to welcome the teams from each of these well-established properties into Churchill Downs Incorporated.”

Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent, Virginia, and six Rosie’s Gaming Emporium vintage horse racing facilities are all part of the P2E Acquisition. Currently, Rosie’s locations include Collinsville, Dumfries, Hampton, New Kent, Richmond, and Vinton, and the collection contains about 2,700 vintage racing cars.
It features the Waterloo, New York-based Del Lago Resort & Casino, a 96,000 square foot casino with about 1,700 slot machines and 80 table games, as well as a 205-room hotel, nine dining and drinking establishments, 758 covered parking spaces, a 6,000 square foot sportsbook, a 2,400-seat entertainment venue, and a 7,200 square foot outdoor event space.

It also contains the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Sioux City, Iowa. This 45,000 square foot casino has 639 slot machines, 20 table games, a 54-room hotel, 1,511 parking spaces, two live entertainment venues, a collection of 100 pieces of music memorabilia, and a sportsbook featuring the Hard Rock logo.

Additionally, Churchill Downs will now be able to build up to five more HRM entertainment venues in Virginia, totaling up to 2,300 more HRMs.

It now has the right to develop a brand-new HRM entertainment complex in Dumfries, Virginia, with a capacity of up to 1,800 HRMs. The first phase of the Dumfries project, which is in northern Virginia, is scheduled to debut in 2023.

In Emporia, Virginia, it will be able to build a brand-new HRM entertainment facility that can accommodate 150 HRMs. In addition to the rights to P2E’s existing initiative to create ONE Casino + Resort, a $565 million destination casino in Richmond, Virginia, in cooperation with Urban One, the Emporio be able to a project, situated along I-95 close to the North Carolina border, is anticipated to open in 2023.