Wednesday, March 20, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Boomtown Inc., operator of an Old West themed casino at the turnoff to Blue Diamond, is entering into a merger with Hollywood Park Inc., owner of the famed California race track, it was announced today.
The move paves the way for the Boomtown hotel-casino, located several miles south of the Strip just off Interstate 15, to begin expansion plans and gives its Reno-based parent company additional resources to forge ahead with other casino ventures.
The two publicly traded companies have entered into a letter of intent that, if completed, would result in Boomtown becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Hollywood Park.
Completion of the merger, expected to take place in the fourth quarter of this year, is subject to execution of a merger agreement and approvals from the boards of directors of both companies. It also is subject to stockholder and regulatory approvals.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, under the terms of the agreement each share of Boomtown common stock would be converted into 0.625 shares of Hollywood Park common stock.
"We believe this merger, when completed, will immediately allow us to begin planned expansion projects at our existing Boomtown properties," said Timothy Parrott, chairman and CEO of Boomtown Inc. "It also enables us to participate in new ventures, such as our proposed joint venture with Hilton in Indiana."
The combined company would have five operating casinos: The Hollywood Park Casino in California, Boomtown's Las Vegas and Reno casinos, its Biloxi, Miss., dockside casino and the Westbank riverboat casino in Louisiana.
The new company also will have three race tracks: the flagship Hollywood Park Race Track in California, site of the 1997 Breeders' Cup; Turf Paradise in Arizona, and The Woodlands in Kansas. The company would also be landlord for two California-based card club casinos expected to open in late 1996.
"This merger will be a landmark step in furthering our goal of making Hollywood Park a leading national gaming, sports and entertainment company," said R.D. Hubbard, CEO of Hollywood Park.
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