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Wind Creek Hospitality has agreed with the owners of the Birmingham Racecourse and Casino in Alabama to acquire the gaming facility.

Wind Creek Hospitality Alabama Birmingham Racecourse — The Poarch Band of Creek Indians’ Wind Creek Hospitality is acquiring the Birmingham Racecourse and Casino. The casino offers slot-like historical racing machines. (Image: Wind Creek Hospitality)

Live greyhound racing ceased at the Birmingham Racecourse in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Though greyhound racing remains legal in Alabama, the Birmingham track was the last facility to offer live racing.

Wind Creek, a fully owned subsidiary of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, one of the fastest-growing federally recognized tribes in the United States, is purchasing the Birmingham Racecourse and Casino from the McGregor family. The family has controlled the track and gaming venue since Milton McGregor bought it out of bankruptcy in 1992.

Since the pandemic, the racecourse has focused on its gaming operations, which include simulcast parimutuel wagering on horses and greyhounds and historical horse racing (HHR) machines. The Birmingham Racecourse Casino features about 300 slot-like gaming terminals.

We are excited to bring the Birmingham Racecourse into the Wind Creek family,” said Jay Dorris, president and CEO of Wind Creek Hospitality. “The McGregor family built and has operated the Birmingham Racecourse and Casino for decades. Over those years, it became clear to us that we share many of the same goals — providing great entertainment, attracting tourism, and creating economic growth In Alabama.”

The Birmingham Racecourse and Casino sale to Wind Creek is expected to close in early 2025. No sale price was disclosed.

One of the most charitable tribes in the nation, the Poarch Indians already support numerous organizations in the Birmingham region such as the Birmingham Zoo and Birmingham Promise, the latter being a college scholarship initiative.

Wind Creek Birmingham?

Wind Creek Hospitality owns and operates three Class I and II tribal casinos in Alabama featuring bingo-based electronic gaming machines. The company runs Wind Creek Atmore, Wind Creek Montgomery, and Wind Creek Wetumpka.

Because the Poarch Indians do not have historical ties to the Birmingham area, and therefore will not apply to have the racecourse property deemed as sovereign land, Wind Creek will continue to run the casino as a parimutuel wagering facility. With horse and greyhound racing continuing to be dying sports across the country, Wind Creek’s interest in Birmingham is presumably because of the casino’s HHR games, slot-like terminals that determine bet outcomes based on previously run horse races.

Wind Creek Hospitality did not respond to Casino.org’s inquiry into whether the company will rebrand the Birmingham facility to Wind Creek Birmingham. It’s also unclear if the tribe will invest in an on-site hotel and other resort amenities.

Wind Creek remains bullish on the U.S. gaming industry. Along with ongoing investments at Wind Creek Bethlehem, its full-scale, Las Vegas-like casino in Pennsylvania, the tribal company will soon open Wind Creek Chicago Southland in Illinois.

Located in the Chicago suburbs, the Southland casino has a 70K-square-foot casino with 1,400 slot machines, 56 table games, a poker room, and a sportsbook. The resort has 252 hotel rooms, a 75K-square-foot entertainment venue, 12K square feet of event space, and several restaurants and bars.

Victoryland Focus

HHR gaming became the name of the game at controversial casinos in Alabama after the state’s Supreme Court in September 2022 ruled that grey electronic bingo machines at venues in Macon and Lowndes counties constituted illegal gambling despite voters approving them through local referendums. The ruling forced Victoryland, White Hall Entertainment, and Southern Star Entertainment to cease operating electronic bingo machines.

Victoryland remains owned by the McGregor family. Because the casino facility in Shorter possesses a parimutuel license, the gaming venue is allowed to incorporate HHR devices and therefore remains open, unlike the two other entertainment centers.

Lewis Benefield, the president of the Birmingham Racecourse Casino and Victoryland, said Alabama’s restrictive and opaque gaming laws led to the McGregors divesting one of its two major holdings.

The people of Birmingham desire the same types of entertainment offered at other facilities in and around Alabama. Unfortunately, differing state laws and enforcement actions regarding gaming have limited our ability to compete effectively,” Benefield said.

“The McGregor family will now focus their efforts on Victoryland and advocate for unified gaming legislation in Alabama which would capture much-needed revenue for the people of Alabama,” Benefield concluded.

The post Wind Creek Hospitality Buying Birmingham Racecourse and Casino in Alabama appeared first on Casino.org.

Sega Sammy Creation (SSC) , the Japanese company known primarily for its footprint in arcade and video games, is acquiring sports betting technology firm GAN Ltd. (NASDAQ: GAN) for approximately $84.4 million.

Gan stock — GAN stock advertised at the Nasdaq market site. The company is being sold to Japan’s Sega Sammy. (Image: Nasdaq)

The deal values the software provider at $1.97 a share, or a 121% premium to where the stock closed today. GAN investors are scheduled to meet in the first quarter to vote on the transaction, which could be finalized by the fourth quarter of 2024.

If the merger is approved by GAN’s shareholders and is completed, all outstanding GAN ordinary shares will be acquired for $1.97 per share in cash; GAN’s ordinary shares will no longer be subject to public reporting requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and its ordinary shares will no longer trade on any market. Upon completion of the merger, GAN will become a wholly owned subsidiary of SSC,” according to a statement.

GAN’s board of directors formed a special committee, comprised exclusively of independent directors, to consider and negotiate the offer. The gaming technology company was advised by investment bank B. Riley.

Sega Sammy Buy Ends GAN Downward Spiral

UK-based GAN went public in the US about three and a half years ago as sports wagering equities were taking the investment community by storm.

At that time, enthusiasm for sport betting stocks was at a fevered pitch — a point proven by GAN pricing its initial public offering (IPO) at $8.50 and flirting with $13 on its first day of trading. From there, the stock ripped higher, eventually approaching $32 a share in February 2021, but from there, a prolonged slump ensued, resulting in today’s closing price of 89.1 cents. The stock has shed 43.91% of its value over the past 12 months.

“Formerly GameAccount Network, GAN provides enterprise SaaS solutions for online casino gaming and sports betting applications, namely its GameSTACK internet gaming platform,” according to Renaissance Capital, an IPO research firm.

What Sega Sammy’s plans are for GAN remain to be seen. The Japanese company currently has no direct exposure to the regulated sports betting market in North America, but that segment is highly tech-dependent, indicating the buy prove astute.

GAN Sale Not Surprising

GAN’s sale isn’t surprising. Earlier this year, the Irish company GAN announced a strategic review “to evaluate options available to hasten our path to better profitability metrics and a more attractive return profile.” Such reviews often lead to sales.

Additionally, the sale to Sega Sammy isn’t surprising because that company previously took over a term loan from GAN creditor Beach Point Capital. Sega Sammy extended lower interest credit to GAN as part of that transaction.

“After a thoughtful review of value creation opportunities available to us, we are pleased to have reached this agreement with SSC,” GAN interim CEO Seamus McGill in the statement. “Market share concentration in the U.S. B2C space, a slower than expected adoption of regulated online gaming in the U.S., along with changes to key customer contracts make the near-term operating environment challenging without ample capital resources. Sega Sammy has those resources and GAN is a strategic complement to their existing gaming portfolio. We believe this all-cash offer, at a substantial premium to recent trading prices, is the value-maximizing path for our shareholder.”

The post Sega Sammy Buying GAN for $84 Million appeared first on Casino.org.

Wind Creek Hospitality Buying Birmingham Racecourse and Casino in Alabama

Wind Creek Birmingham?

Victoryland Focus

Sega Sammy Buying GAN for $84 Million

Sega Sammy Buy Ends GAN Downward Spiral

GAN Sale Not Surprising

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