Details of Lakes Entertainment‘s just-under-the-wire entry into the Kansas casino derby are beginning to emerge — and it looks a bit half-assed. Particularly non-confidence-inspiring was the admission, “We’re going to go find the cash.” If somebody as flush as Phil Ruffin can’t scare up $175 million, what makes Lakes confident it can score $260 million? Demote this bid from “contender” to “also-ran” status.
Another Kansas applicant also is moving aggressively elsewhere. Cordish Co. is looking to snap up three tracks owned by bankrupt Magna Entertainment. Racino conversion, though is not on the agenda, according to Cordish.
No fools. It looks as though Penn National has sworn off the Strip and small wonder. If execs at Harrah’s Entertainment or MGM Mirage say they want to deal but insist on 10X-12X cash flow as their asking price, they’re not going to find takers. I presume that their rationale — and it’s hardly without merit — is that if business returns to the levels it enjoyed four years ago those multiples will go down.
Whether that argument will fall upon receptive ears seems unlikely. But look on the bright side: You could pay 12 times EBITDA for the Tropicana Las Vegas and it would still only cost you $54 million.
Five bucks a f**k? Sure prostitution is legal in 10 counties of Nevada, a state whose economy is built on the perception of an anything-goes atmosphere. But tax bordellos by the lay? Horrors!
