Canadian private equity firm chosen to build NYC casino

The good news just keeps coming for the Canadian private equity industry (see prior post “Canada’s Private Equity industry is on fire” Jan 12-10). 

Just yesterday, New York State Governor David Patterson announced that the Aqueduct Entertainment Group had been chosen to redevelop the historic Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York.  A key feature of the redevelopment comes in the form of 4,500 video lottery terminals, the first State award in such close proximity to metropolitan New York.  Five bidders made it to the final bake-off round, with the winning consortium of Clairvest Group Inc (CVG:TSX), Siemens, Larry J. Woolf (former Chairman, CEO and President of MGM Grand Hotels in Las Vegas) among others chosen late yesterday.

What do you do to win casino space in New York City? Embrace the community:  

• US$1 million in anticipated revenue per day to the State of New York
• State of the Art Meeting Spaces Available to all Queens Civic Groups
• Sustainable rainforest atrium
• “Community Labor Exchange” initiative to insure local residents have priority in the construction jobs and the permanent employment created by the development

Clairvest is already well-experienced in the casino industry, with ownership stakes in Calgary’s Grey Eagle Casino, three different casino projects in Chile, and a new casino site in New Brunswick.  And then there’s the Gateway Casinos deal, which was named Canada’s private equity deal of the year in 2008 (see prior post “Clairvest makes it back-to-back ‘Deal of the Year’ awards” Sept 23-09).  There’s obviously something to be said about investing in domains where you have specific expertise. 

As private equity deals go, this is quite the feat to pull off — in one of the highest profile cities in the world.  And Canadian institutional limited partners will reap the benefits.  All of which is great news for the Canadian PE community.

MRM

(disclosure – CVG is a partner in Wellington)