Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelTown
Great Canadian Gaming wins bid for four Ontario gambling facilities
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ticle37383082/
A company whose flagship casino is at the centre of a probe into allegations of money laundering in British Columbia has won a bid to take over the operations of four gambling facilities west of Toronto.
A 20-year deal with Great Canadian Gaming Corp. is expected to start in the spring of next year, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. announced Tuesday morning. The B.C.-based company will take over day-to-day management of a casino and three racetracks, while private equity investor Clairvest Group Inc. will have a 45-per-cent stake in the agreement.
Known as the West GTA Gaming Bundle, the deal includes the OLG Casino in Brantford, as well as slots at the Mohawk Racetrack in Milton, Flamboro Downs in Hamilton and the Grand River Raceway in Elora.
These area's 2,500 slot machines and 60 table games generated about $450-million in revenue last year, according to Great Canadian. The price the company paid for the deal, which will see it take over all the gambling assets and take a cut of revenues, was not disclosed.
"Great Canadian is an established gaming and horse-racing operator that will build strong relationships with local communities, employees, stakeholders and the horse-racing industry. We are confident Great Canadian will operate the bundle in a responsible way," said Stephen Rigby, chief executive for the provincial gambling agency, in a statement. The OLG has said that up to 1,650 new jobs will be created through the expansion of the four facilities by the new operator.
"Being awarded the West GTA Bundle is a true milestone for Great Canadian and the partnership. We thank OLG for their confidence in our company," Great Canadian CEO Rod Baker stated.
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Curiously unmentioned: In
August 2017, Great Canadian (along with partner Brookfield Business Partners LP) was awarded a 22-year contract for the
GTA Gaming Bundle.
Or that two years earlier, Great Canadian was awarded a 20-year contract for the OLG's
East Gaming Bundle, which enabled them to open Belleville’s
Shorelines Casino in January of this year, the first new casino opened in Ontario since 2006.
(GCGC has also bid on the
Ottawa RFP and been pre-qualified for OLG’s Gaming Bundle 7 (
Central) and Gaming Bundle 8 (
Niagara).)
In addition to the newly constructed Belleville Shorelines Casino, Great Canadian (and its partners) will now control nine Ontario gaming facilities with combined total of over 7,400 slot machines and 140 table games, and more than 3,200 staff:
GTA
• OLG Slots at Woodbine Racetrack
• OLG Slots at Ajax Downs
• Great Blue Heron Casino
GTA West
• OLG Casino in Brantford
• Mohawk Racetrack
• Flamboro Downs
• Grand River Raceway
East
• OLG Casino Thousand Islands
• OLG Slots at Kawartha Downs
As of 2016, those nine facilities generated combined annual revenues of more than $1.58 billion. For sake of comparison, the City of Hamilton's revenues for 2016 were
$815.35 million.