Gaming and Leisure Properties (GLPI) has announced the completion of its purchase of the land and real estate assets of Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland (Live! Maryland). Per the terms of the agreement, GLPI is set to pay The Cordish Companies a total fee of $1.14bn.
To fund this transaction GLPI assumed approximately $363m in debt, with intention to pay this off by the end of 2021. Moreover, the agreement includes, on top of the Live! Maryland, a part ownership of future Cordish Companies casino developments.
Peter Carlino, Chairman and CEO of GLPI, noted: “We are delighted to add Live! Maryland to our portfolio, further diversify our roster of leading operators, and gain additional access to the rapidly growing Baltimore-Washington corridor via a truly world-class property.
“The Cordish Companies is world renowned for creating large-scale experiential real estate projects, casinos, hospitality and entertainment districts and we believe their Live! brand and their Live! Maryland together exemplifies their track record of development and operating success.“
Concurrently, this deal sees the property companies enter a single asset triple net lease. Thus, Cordish will continue the operation and management of the Live! Maryland at an annual cash rent of $75m and a term of 39 years, which can grow to 60.
“Further, our new lease with Cordish has strong rent coverage and is part of an accretive overall transaction that positions our company to continue to build value for shareholders through our industry leading, high quality tenant roster. We are excited to welcome Live! Maryland to the GLPI family and we look forward to working with their team to ensure the long-term success of the property,” Carlino concluded.
This follows the completion of the previously announced sale of the Hollywood Casino Baton Rouge to Casino Queen Holding Company for a total fee of $28.2m on December 17.
