VICI Properties Completes Acquisition in Alberta

An experiential real estate investment trust, VICI Properties Inc, announced some major news – the company acquired the real estate assets of the biggest casinos in Alberta: two casinos in Edmonton, PURE Casino Edmonton, and PURE Casino Yellowhead, also the casino in Calgary, PURE Casino Calgary, and PURE Casino Lethbridge in Lethbridge.

Those casinos belonged to PURE Canadian Gaming Corp, which was acquired for an aggregate purchase price of about C$271.9 million, which is US$200.8 million. 

These casinos had been paid with a combination of cash on hand and money that had been collected from the funds under VICI’s revolving credit facility. The whole transaction has been paid in Canadian dollars.

A lease agreement:

This isn’t the only major step VICI has taken these days. The company also started a triple-net master lease agreement with PURE, covering the PURE Portfolio. According to this agreement, the rent will initially be about C$21.8 million (US$16.1 million). It represents the implied acquisition capitalization rate of 8.0%. 

The initial term of the agreement is 25 years, but there are also four 5-year tenant renewal options.

The parent entity of PURE guarantees all of PURE’s obligations during this leasing period.

John Payne, President and Chief Operating Officer of VICI Properties, said, “Over the last five and a half years, VICI has built a portfolio of market-leading experiential real estate. Today’s announcement marks another momentous first for VICI as we expand our footprint internationally into Canada with the acquisition of the PURE Portfolio. This transaction highlights our ability to source, structure, and fund cross-border transactions, widening our opportunity set as we continue along our growth trajectory. We are pleased to add PURE as our eleventh tenant and look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership.”

Acquiring properties in the U.S.:

VICI keeps acquiring properties both in Canada and the U.S. At the same time, when the broad audience heard about acquiring casinos in Canada, the company announced its complete acquisition of MGM Grand Las Vegas and Mandalay Bay Joint Venture casinos. The remaining interest was 49.9% before the acquisition was completed. 

VICI properties’ s portfolio is one of the largest on the continent, including some of the most prominent casinos, such as Caesars Palace Las Vegas, MGM Grand, and the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, one of the most famous casinos in the famous casino city. 

The company possesses 49 gaming facilities in the U.S. and Canada. The company leases its properties to leading operators, including Caesars Entertainment, Foundation Gaming & Entertainment, Hard Rock International Inc., Penn Entertainment, etc.  

VICI’s partnership network is pretty vast, and the company continues to grow via partnerships with leading experiential operators that aren’t in the gaming industry. Some of the partners include Great Wolf Resorts, Cabot, Canyon Ranch, and Chelsea Piers. There are also four championship golf courses and land next to the Las Vegas Strip.