The global conglomerate The Cordish Companies last Friday won the right to build and manage a state-owned casino in Wyandotte County, Kansas in partnership with Kansas Speedway, subject to the usual background and financial checks. The proposal chosen by the Kansas Lottery Gaming Facility Review Board includes a Hard Rock branded casino with 3,000 slot machines, 140 table games and 300 hotel rooms as well as retail, dining and entertainment facilities. By next June an interim operation with 2,000 machines and 75 gaming tables is expected to be functioning.

Today comes the news that The Cordish Companies is the potential buyer of the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City. In December last year Columbia Sussex Corp was denied a licence by the Casino Control Commission of New Jersey and fined. A trustee was appointed to keep the Tropicana open and to find a buyer for the property. One month later the private equity company Colony Capital in partnership with Resorts International Holdings was reported to have offered US$850 million in a cash deal with a further US$100 million to be spent on refurbishment.

Baltimore-based Cordish has now offered US$700 million in cash and stock for the Tropicana, according to the trustee Gary Stein. The anticipated selling price at the start of 2008 was in the region of US$1 billion but the continuing downward trend of the economy has doubtless affected the value of the property. The Cordish bid will now be submitted to a bank court judge in Delaware, and an auction will be held where other companies would be able to make higher bids if they wish to buy the Tropicana Casino and Resort, the largest hotel property in Atlantic City. (E-09.23.08)

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