Ohio’s casino regulator approved this week the proposed sale of JACK Cincinnati Casino to real estate investment trust VICI Properties, local news outlet Cincinnati CityBeats reported.
Members of the Ohio Casino Control Commission voted to issue a three-year license to VICI, allowing the company to purchase the downtown Cincinnati casino for $558 million in cash.
It was in April when news first emerged that VICI and gaming and hospitality giant Hard Rock International have agreed to purchase the property from its current owner, Detroit-based casino operator JACK Entertainment, in a $745 million deal.
As mentioned above, VICI, the REIT that spun off from Caesars Entertainment Corp. in 2017, will pay $558 million in cash for a 100% of the interest of an entity of the Cincinnati casino complex that owns the land and its real estate. Hard Rock will pay another $187 million for the operating assets of the gambling venue.
VICI and Hard Rock will then enter into a long-term leasing agreement that will initially see Hard Rock pay $42.75 million a year to lease the property for an initial 15-year term with the option for four five-year extensions.
JACK Cincinnati is one of Ohio’s premium casinos. The property opened doors in 2013 and operated as Horseshoe Cincinnati until 2016 when its owner rebranded as JACK Entertainment and moved to change the property’s name to JACK Cincinnati Casino. The casino complex features a 100,000-square-foot gaming floor with 1,800 slot machines and 100 table games, 33,000 square feet of meeting space and six dining outlets.
JACK Cincinnati opened doors with around 1,700 employees, but currently employs about 1,000 people. It recorded average monthly revenue of about $17 million last year.
When Is JACK Cincinnati’s Sale Expected to Close?
VICI and Hard Rock said earlier this year that they expect to finalize the purchase of the downtown Cincinnati casino in late 2019. As Hard Rock will be running the casino, it will, too, need to be licensed by the Casino Control Commission. The regulator could vote on Hard Rock’s bid to take over as the operator of the gambling venue as soon as its next meeting.
Once the deal closes, the property will be rebranded as Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati. Hard Rock revealed that it would add new facilities to the casino’s existing offering, but is yet to provide more details about what these new additions would include.
The acquisition of Jack Cincinnati will not mark Hard Rock’s first foray into Ohio’s market. The company entered the state in 2013 when it launched Hard Rock Rocksino Northfield Park. MGM Resorts International purchased that property earlier this year and renamed it MGM Northfield Park.
Aside from the Cincinnati casino, JACK Entertainment is also selling its Turfway Park horse race track in Florence, Kentucky to VICI and Hard Rock. The Detroit-based operator will continue to operate its other casino in Ohio – Jack Cleveland Casino. JACK Entertainment CEO Matt Cullen said earlier this year that their Cleveland property is not for sale.
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