Monday, March 3, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Players Island, a resort in Mesquite, will be sold to the owner of the rival Virgin River hotel-casino, Players' parent company said today.
RGB, a company operated by Robert "Randy" Black Sr., will acquire the 500-room property for $30.5 million, higher than an initial bid, but considerably less than what Players International Inc. has invested in it.
Players reportedly has spent about $80 million on the resort, which includes a restaurant, spa and massage facilities and a long-term lease on an 18-hole golf course that opened last fall.
Stock in Atlantic City, N.J.-based Players was trading at $5.75 this morning, up 37.5 cents on volume of 70,200 shares.
The $30.5 million purchase price will include $29 million in cash and a $1.5 million promissory note. Players officials said today that they expect to record a one-time after-tax loss of about $35 million in its 1997 fiscal year and will receive a tax refund of about $18 million as a result of the sale.
Paula Briscoe, executive secretary to Black at Virgin River, said a press release offering more details on the transaction and future plans would be issued later today.
The sale was announced in a brief news release issued this morning. Players International officials have not commented on the role other bidders may have had on the negotiations with Black, who signed a letter of intent to purchase the property in January. Players sought other offers and at least two other prospective bidders made overtures to acquire the property.
Company officials have made no comment on the identity of other bidders or the role Las Vegas gaming executive Michael Gaughan had on the transaction with Black.
Published reports indicate Gaughan backed Black financially in the deal. Gaughan, an executive with Coast Resorts Inc., operator of the Barbary Coast, Gold Coast and Orleans hotel-casinos, was unavailable for comment this morning.
Players International sought to unload the property in the suddenly crowded Mesquite market to concentrate more on riverboat projects in Lake Charles, La.; Metropolis, Ill.; and Maryland Heights, Mo. The Maryland Heights project in suburban St. Louis about five minutes from the city's airport is a joint venture with Harrah's Entertainment and is set to open in a little more than a week.
Including Players Island and Virgin River, there are four resorts in Mesquite, a small agricultural community on the Nevada-Arizona border. About 75 miles northeast of Las Vegas on Interstate 15, Mesquite is the first Nevada community travelers from Utah see. In recent years, Players and the Oasis hotel-casino, the largest development in Mesquite, have worked to market the town as a golf resort with three 18-hole courses.
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