- Resorts World Catskills’ nongaming assets are being sold
- The buyer is Sullivan County, the host county to the Upstate NY casino
- RW Catskills has underperformed throughout its history
- It opened in early 2018
The nongaming assets of Resorts World Catskills will be sold to a corporation newly formed by Sullivan County in Upstate New York.
Officials in Sullivan County recently created the Sullivan County Resort Facilities Local Development Corporation. The enterprise was formed solely to acquire, develop, maintain, and own “certain real and tangible personal property located in the Town of Thompson, County of Sullivan, New York.”
During its meeting this week, the Sullivan County Resort Facilities Local Development Corporation voted unanimously in favor of issuing up to $585 million in Series 2025 Bonds. The capital raise will allow the company to execute its agreement with Empire Resorts Inc., the present owner and operator of RW Catskills that is jointly owned by Genting Malaysia (49%) and Kien Huat Reality (51%), the latter being the family trust of Malaysian billionaire Lim Kok Thay.
The county corporation had initially planned to raise $570 million through the issuance of bonds. The offering was increased “to accommodate closing costs and give flexibility.”
Resorts World Catskills opened in February 2018 at a cost of $1.2 billion. The 100,000-square-foot casino floor has about 1,600 slot machines and 140 live dealer table games. The casino discontinued its retail sportsbook in May.
RW Disaster
Genting’s $1.2 billion bet on Upstate New York was a bad one, as the property has perpetually failed to meet revenue expectations.
Empire Resorts lost money each year running Resorts World Catskills and the Monticello Raceway. As the company neared bankruptcy in 2019, Lim, who then still led Genting, the conglomerate his father founded in 1965, rescued the investment through his family trust.
With Genting focused on its $5.5 billion bid in downstate New York to overhaul Resorts World New York City racino into a full-fledged integrated resort with Las Vegas-like slot machines, live tables, and sports betting, Sullivan County is stepping in to preserve the resort operations of RW Catskills.
Resorts World Catskills has generated nearly 1,400 union jobs, and while it has underperformed, it still provides the county with critical tax revenue and economic stability. Sullivan County recently saw about 300 jobs disappear when PepsiCo closed its Frito-Lay plant in Liberty.
I want to assure the people and the taxpayers in Sullivan County that they have no stake in this deal. There’s no collateral that the county or its taxpayers are responsible for,” said Matt McPhillips, a county legislator representing District 1 who is the majority leader. Radio Catskill first reported McPhillips’ remarks.
“This is more to allow the casino to reconsolidate, reposition itself, and really invest in this property,” McPhillips added.
Nongaming Acquisition
Sullivan County’s deal to acquire Resorts World Catskills is for most of the destination’s nongaming assets. Empire Resorts will continue to maintain the ownership and operation of the casino.
Sullivan County Resort Facilities Local Development Corporation will take on the hotel, golf course, theatre, meeting and event spaces, dining areas, and the spa.
It’s not clear when the deal will close.
The post Resorts World Catskills Nongaming Assets Will Be Sold to Sullivan County appeared first on Casino.org.
