Clairvest Group Inc. announced that Clairvest Equity Partners VI and a newly formed subsidiary of Rubico Gaming LLC have agreed to acquire the Delaware Park casino and racetrack business for an undisclosed amount.
Delaware Park is a casino thoroughbred horse track south of Newark. The property has been owned by the Rickman family since 1983 and consists of over 100,000 square feet of gaming space with slot machines, table games, and poker tables.
The Maryland family saved the horse track and later profited when Delaware authorized slots at all three horse tracks in the state.
The closing of the Delaware Park sale is subject to obtaining regulatory approvals. The parties expect the closing to occur by the end of 2021.
Delaware park will be the 30th casino/racino in which Clairvest has held an ownership interest upon closing.
Clairvest was founded in 1987 by a group of Canadian entrepreneurs and had more than $2.5 billion (Canadian) capital under management.
The group was joined by an experienced gaming industry professional (Rubico) who will presumably plot a path forward for the casino-racing complex.
The sale of Delaware Park had been rumored over the years, with the speculation increasing when Dover Downs Entertainment was sold to a Rhode Island casino company now known as Ballys.
The Dover Downs sale came after the Delaware General Assembly made adjustments to the profit-sharing formula for casinos. Operators had complained that a higher “take” from the state had led to casinos operating on a break-even basis or at a loss.
The Rickmans previously sold Ocean Downs on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to Churchill Downs, a company best known for hosting the Kentucky Derby.
Delaware Park is a “locals” casino. The Rickmans remained cautious as gaming competition intensified and did not invest in a standalone casino building.
Competition popped up from the west at the Hollywood Casino in Perryville and casinos in the Philadelphia area. However, a proposal for a Wilmington casino that might have proved to be devastating for Delaware Park went nowhere.
Instead, the family built a country club on the property and owned a hotel along I-95 that never opened and was later sold. the country club property is not part of the recent sale. That might give the family some flexibility in developing a portion of the property.
They also owned a former county engineering building for reasons that served as its headquarters.
Delaware Park is believed to be profitable due to the family not taking on debt that would have been needed in upgrading the casino.
