Two credit rating organizations have downgraded Bally’s Corp. as the company is on the verge of closing its Tropicana property in Las Vegas.
In separate actions, Moody’s Investors Services downgraded Rhode Island-based Bally’s from “B1” to “B2,” while S&P Global Ratings cut Bally’s rating from “B” to “B-.”
The reductions could affect the company’s ability to obtain loans for three planned projects, including the construction of a $1.5 billion, 33,000-seat Major League Baseball ballpark for the Oakland Athletics, which has received permission to move to Las Vegas.
Current plans call for Bally’s to close the Tropicana on Tuesday to make way for demolition and, next year, the start of stadium construction.
Although details have not yet been announced, Bally’s, which operates the hotel-casino, would work on the project with the land owner, Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc., and the baseball team.
Ultimately, Gaming & Leisure Properties has committed nine acres to the stadium and Bally’s hopes to build an adjacent resort to be called Bally’s Las Vegas on the remaining 26 acres of the Tropicana site.
Moody’s downgraded its rating on Monday, while S&P Global changed its outlook earlier this month, when Bally’s largest shareholder Soo Kim and his hedge fund Standard General offered to buy the company’s remaining shares for $15 a share. about half the amount Kim offered in a similar takeover bid in 2022.
While the Tropicana project is of local interest, Bally’s has a larger, more immediate project underway, Chicago’s first and only casino, which is expected to break ground later this year after the company opened a temporary casino last fall.
Bally’s is also pursuing a casino license in downstate New York.
“Other acquisitions or development opportunities, such as the potential construction of a New York gaming resort on its recently acquired golf course, or the redevelopment of the Tropicana casino site in Las Vegas, although uncertain, pose the risk of raising the leverage for a longer period of time and would require significant capital investment,” Moody’s said in a report.
2024-03-27 22:51:12
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