Gateway Casinos & Entertainment Ltd. has bought Boardwalk Gaming & Entertainment Inc.’s B.C. assets, including community gaming centres in Mission, Squamish and Surrey, Gateway announced July 18.
The purchase provides privately owned Gateway with significant real estate assets, tax recoveries and tax assets, the company said. The acquisition was funded entirely with cash and shares.
Gateway has facilities in B.C. and Alberta, including three casinos in Metro Vancouver, four in the Thompson-Okanagan region and two in Edmonton.
The company is not alone in its buying spree.
In April, Great Canadian Gaming Corp. (GCG) (TSX:GC) bought Chilliwack Bingo for $10 million and, spokesman Howard Blank told Business in Vancouver July 14, the company “will put in a Chances Community Gaming Centre in that facility in the future. That would have slots and a racebook, food and bingo, but no tables.”
Back in 2007, GCG spent $1 million to buy Ridge Meadows Bingo Association’s assets. GCG plans to replace the Haney Bingo Plex in Maple Ridge with a facility that would house bingo and have slot machines and other gaming options.
Blank stressed his company is not ignoring horse racing.
“There are no racetrack assets for sale right now,” he said.
GCG invested $4.4 million to build the 7,000 square foot Hastings Park Childcare Centre, which has 44 day-care spaces and opened on April 9 at Hastings Park Racecourse. Several years ago, it also spent $40 million to:
- create a 42,000-square-foot racino that includes 596 slot machines;
- install a new roof;
- provide new restroom facilities; and
- add over a 100 new televisions.
Blank said that at Hastings, a “giant outdoor screen will be installed later this month on a trial basis for community movie nights.”
Track regulars, such as Ian Ross, told BIV last week that they have long wanted to have a screen in Hastings Racecourse’s infield that shows live racing.
In March, Global Gaming Solutions (GGS) installed the largest high-definition video screen at a horse racing facility in North America in March at its Remington Park racecourse in Oklahoma. The screen is 47 feet tall and 60 feet wide.
The temporary screen Blank promised might not be able to show live racing during the day because it will not be bright enough, he said.
Glen Korstrom
Twitter: GlenKorstrom