Twin River Worldwide Holdings, the owner of Dover Downs is buying Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel & Casino for about $25 million in cash.
Bally’s is owned by Caesars Entertainment and VICI Properties.
Separately, Twin River agreed to acquire Eldorado resorts in Lake Tahoe, NV and Shreveport, LA.
Eldorado, based in Reno, NV, is in the process of acquiring larger Caesars in a difficult environment that has all casinos shut down during the coronavirus pandemic.
The two companies have been selling off properties in an effort to keep the merger moving forward.
“We look forward to the reopening of Bally’s Atlantic City as soon as appropriate once the public health emergency related to COVID-19 has passed,” said Caesars CEO Tony Rodio. “We appreciate Twin River’s commitment to this property, which has a great future ahead under its stewardship.”
Rodio, a veteran of the Atlantic City casino business, is now running Caesars, which is on track to be owned by Eldorado.
Adjacent Caesars Atlantic City, which will remain under Caesars ownership, will continue to operate the Bally’s Wild Wild West Casino area and a sportsbook site.
VICI Properties will continue to own the land and real estate associated with Caesars Atlantic City, including the Wild Wild West casino area.
The Bally’s Atlantic City transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. Bally’s Atlantic City will continue to be part of the Caesars Rewards network until closing.
Bally’s has struggled over the years as Atlantic City faced increased competition from Pennsylvania and Maryland casinos. Twin River will have room to make modest improvements after paying a modest price for the hotel-casino.
Twin River Worldwide Holdings, Inc. owns and manages seven casinos, two in Rhode Island, one in Mississippi, Dover Downs and three casinos as well as a horse racetrack that has 13 authorized OTB licenses in Colorado.
The company added properties as Rhode Island casinos saw increased competition when the Las Vegas-style Wynn resort opened in Boston.
A sizable chunk of publicly traded Twin River is owned by a private equity investor.
Prior to the coronavirus shutdown, Twin River had reported that Dover Downs had performed better than expected.
The harness racing track, casino and conference center was snapped up by Twin River after the Delaware General Assembly made concessions on revenue sharing between the state and its three casinos.
