- Aztar
Infobox_Company
company_name = Aztar Corporation
company_type = Subsidiary ofColumbia Sussex
company_slogan = Excellence in Hospitality
foundation =
location =Fort Mitchell, Kentucky
key_people =William Yung III (CEO)
industry =Gambling ,Resorts
homepage = [http://www.columbiasussex.com/ www.columbiasussex.com]Aztar Corporation is a hospitality company that focused on
resort hotel s andcasino s. In 2005, the company had revenues of more than $915 million and earnings before interest and taxes of $212 million. During 2006 the company became the subject of a bidding war for ownership, withColumbia Sussex winning.History
In 1989 Ramada Inns, Inc. split its businesses, selling the hotel/restaurants to Hong Kong based New World Development Company for $540 million. The casinos including the Tropicana Atlantic City and the Tropicana Las Vegas were spun off into a new publicly traded company called Aztar Corporation.
In 1995 the new Aztar Corporation expanded its operations to include riverboat casinos in
Caruthersville, Missouri andEvansville, Indiana . OnMarch 5 ,2002 Aztar acquired full ownership of the 34-acre Tropicana location in Las Vegas by purchasing the 50% share held by Chicago's Jaffe family. During 2005, the company acquired a site inAllentown, Pennsylvania with the intention of securing agaming license and then developing a casino.On
March 13 ,2006 , Aztar announced plans to be acquired byPinnacle Entertainment for $2.1 billion. Subsequent bids were made byColony Capital, LLC ,Columbia Sussex andAmeristar Casinos . As ofApril 26 ,2006 , all four companies were engaged in bidding over Aztar, with Pinnacle increased its bid to $45 per share, matching Ameristar's bid; Columbia Sussex had previously bid $47 per share. [cite news | title=NORM: Clinton nearly sees rocket's red glare | publisher=Las Vegas Review-Journal | url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Apr-26-Wed-2006/news/7051863.html | accessdate=2006-12-24] Later, Columbia Sussex increased its bid to $50 a share, all in cash. Aztar management determined on May 1 that the latest bid was preferred over Pinnacle's late increase to $48 a share, in cash and stock.On
May 4 ,2006 , Ameristar announced that it was pulling out of the bidding for Aztar. Additionally, Colony has apparently lost interest, having failed to increase its bid beyond $41 a share and making no public comment for several weeks. Since Columbia Sussex eventually outbid Pinnacle, the latter company was paid a $50 milliontermination fee plus expenses, which may total $16 million. [cite news | title=DEALS ON THE STRIP: Ameristar ends chase of Aztar | publisher=Las Vegas Review-Journal | url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/May-04-Thu-2006/business/7191615.html | accessdate=2006-12-24]Bidding ended on
May 19 ,2006 with the acceptance of a $2.75 billion bid from Columbia Sussex. Columbia Sussex paid a $313 million breakup fee in advance, in case the deal fell through with $78 million of that used to pay the breakup fee to Pinnacle Entertainment.The sale was approved by the
Nevada Gaming Commission onNovember 16 ,2006 , and shortly thereafter by regulators inNew Jersey andIndiana .Casinos at time of acquisition
*
Tropicana Casino Resort Atlantic City -Atlantic City, New Jersey
*Tropicana Resort & Casino -Las Vegas, Nevada
*Ramada Express Hotel and Casino -Laughlin, Nevada
*Casino Aztar Evansville -Evansville, Indiana
*Casino Aztar Caruthersville -Caruthersville, Missouri References
External links
* [http://www.aztar.com/ Aztar Corporation]
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