New owner for Meadows Racetrack & Casino in Pittsburgh

Gaming and Leisure Properties  will search for a third-party operator for the casino and the harness track

US.- After the owner of The Meadows Racetrack & Casino and the prospective buyer resolved their prolonged legal dispute over the price of the purchase, the Pittsburgh-area racetrack is being sold to Gaming and Leisure Properties  for US$440 million. The transaction could be finalized in 2016, but first it has to be approved by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and Harness Racing Commission.

Meadows Racetrack and Casino is located in Pennsylvania, Washington. It has a 180,000 square-foot casino and a 5/8 mile racetrack with a 500-seat grandstand. The venue also has an adjacent 154-room hotel (owned and operated by a separate company.) Gaming & Leisure plans to keep The Meadows buildings and real estate, but they expressed that they will look for a third party company to operate the casino and the harness track.

The deal was made in May 2014, but the sale ran into trouble when Gaming & Leisure sued Cannery Casino Resorts, which owned The Meadows pledging that the company overstated the casino’s financial performance, which was the basis of the original sale price, $25 million less than the amount announced this week.

GLPI was spun off from Penn National Gaming in 2013 and it owns and operates several casinos in Louisiana and Maryland.