Full House Resorts Announces Completion of Financing for FireKeepers Casino
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Full House Resorts (AMEX: FLL) announced today that on May 6, 2008, the FireKeepers Development Authority closed on a $340 million Senior Secured Note due 2015 financing and a $35 million F&E facility to fund the FireKeepers Casino project in Battle Creek, Michigan. Full House owns 50% of the joint venture Gaming Entertainment Michigan, LLC (GEM), which has been and will oversee on behalf of the Authority the construction of the facility and will have full responsibility for operations upon opening.
"We congratulate the Tribe for completing this final step of financing the casino and look forward to the long-awaited beginning of construction," said Full House Chief Executive Officer Andre Hilliou. "We remain confident that FireKeepers Casino will be an exciting first class casino destination in South Central Michigan upon its opening in the summer of 2009."
FireKeepers Casino will open with 2,500 class III slot machines, 90 table games and 20 poker tables, an appropriate complement of dining venues and approximately 2,500 parking spaces - inclusive of a 2,078 space enclosed parking garage - and is slated to break ground within the next month for a projected grand opening in the summer of 2009. GEM will manage FireKeepers Casino after its opening for a seven-year period; once opened, GEM will receive a 26% management fee. The casino will be located at Exit 104 of Interstate 94, the primary interstate highway between Detroit and Chicago. Design efforts are well underway. In addition, Clark Construction Company, an experienced Michigan-based construction manager, is under contract and has executed guaranteed maximum price construction contracts for all construction efforts.
With the closing of financing, GEM received reimbursement from the Tribe of approximately $9.3 million for previously advanced development costs. The funds were used to retire the $9.5 million obligation to Green Acres carried by the Company as debt.
About Full House Resorts, Inc.
Full House owns, develops and manages gaming facilities. Full House owns the Stockman's Casino in Fallon, Nevada which has 8,400 square feet of gaming space with approximately 260 gaming machines, four table games and a keno game. The casino has a bar, a fine dining restaurant and a coffee shop. Full House also receives a guaranteed fee from the operation of Harrington Raceway and Casino, formerly Midway Slots and Simulcast at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington, Delaware. Harrington Raceway and Casino recently opened an expansion and is remodeling its original building which will result in a total of 2,000 gaming devices, a buffet, gourmet Steak House, other food and beverage outlets and an entertainment lounge. Full House also has a management agreement with the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi Indians for the development and management of a first-class casino/resort with 2,500 gaming devices, 90 table games and 20 poker tables in the Battle Creek, Michigan area, which is currently in development. In addition, Full House has been working with the Northern Cheyenne Nation of Montana for the development and management of a 27,000 square foot gaming facility. Further information about Full House can be viewed on its web site at www.fullhouseresorts.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Some of the statements made in this release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Full House's current expectations and projections about future events and generally relate to Full House's plans, objectives and expectations for Full House's business. Although Full House's management believes that the plans and objectives expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, the outcome of such plans, objectives and expectations involve risks and uncertainties including without limitation, regulatory approvals, financing sources and terms, integration of acquisitions, competition and business conditions in the gaming industry. Additional information concerning potential factors that could affect Full House's financial condition and results of operations is included in the reports Full House files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, its Form 10-KSB for the most recently ended fiscal year.
For the foregoing reasons, readers and investors are cautioned that there also can be no assurance that the outcomes expressed in Full House's forward-looking statements included in this release and otherwise will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in such forward-looking statements, the inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation or warranty by Full House or any other person that Full House's objectives and plans will be achieved in any specified time frame, if at all. Full House does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements or to announce revisions to any forward-looking statements.
Source: Full House Resorts
Released May 7, 2008