Philadelphia firm to take over Valley View project
October 26, 2012,from the USTA Communications Department
Columbus, OH — The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that the Pennsylvania Harness Racing Commission has approved the stock transfer of Valley View Downs’ assets from its previous ownership group, known as American Harness Tracks, to Philadelphia-based Endeka Entertainment.
Valley View Downs, to be built in Lawrence County, Pa., has been on the drawing board for several years and will now have gone through three changes of ownership since the state’s final harness racing racino license was originally issued in 2007.
Centaur Gaming had originally been granted the license, but never completed its financing package and was not granted a gaming license. Centaur filed for bankruptcy and auctioned the racing license — and American Harness Tracks was the high bidder in 2011.
The paper says the transfer is conditional upon Endeka demonstrating that it has access to at least $170 million in construction financing and upon it applying for a casino license to the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board within the next two months.Among the investors in the new group are Philadelphia insurance executive Manuel Stamatakis, property developer Peter DePaul and Edward Snider, chairman of Comcast Spectacor, which owns the Philadelphia Flyers.
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