Ameristar Casinos, Inc. Signs Letter of Intent for Casino Site in South St. Louis County
LAS VEGAS, Aug. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Ameristar Casinos, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASCA - news) management announced today that the company has entered into a letter of intent to acquire a lease for a site along the Mississippi River in Lemay, Mo. for the development of the first casino in the southern portion of St. Louis County. An affiliate of Futuresouth, Inc., a consortium of local St. Louis businesspeople led by former Anheuser-Busch, Inc. president Dennis P. Long, currently holds the lease to the site, which is owned by the St. Louis County Port Authority. Under the terms of the transaction, Futuresouth would retain an interest in the project.
In addition to the dockside casino, Ameristar's preliminary site plan contemplates the development of several restaurants, meeting rooms and covered and surface parking. The master plan for the project will accommodate the future expansion of the casino and the addition of other amenities.
''We are very pleased to complete the letter of intent with Futuresouth,'' says Craig H. Neilsen, Ameristar's President and Chief Executive Officer. ''The South County location in Lemay offers a prime opportunity for the growth of our company, and we look forward to becoming a member of the business community in Lemay and St. Louis County.''
The transactions contemplated by the letter of intent are subject to conditions, including, among others, the negotiation and execution of definitive agreements, the agreement of the Port Authority to the assignment of the lease and the commencement of unlimited dockside gaming in Missouri. In addition, the development of the proposed casino will be subject to certain approvals by the Missouri Gaming Commission, including the selection of the site for casino development and the approval of a gaming license application to be submitted by a new subsidiary of Ameristar. Accordingly, there can be no assurance of the development or success of the proposed gaming facility. Ameristar Casinos, Inc., a publicly traded company, is an innovative, small-cap gaming company known for its distinctive, quality conscious hotel casinos and good food values. Led by President and Chief Executive Officer Craig H. Neilsen, the organization's roots go back four decades to a tiny roadside casino in the high plateau country that borders Nevada and Idaho. Publicly held since November 1993, the Las Vegas-based corporation operates five properties in Nevada, Mississippi and Iowa.
Visit Ameristar Casinos' Web site at www.ameristars.com
SOURCE: Ameristar Casinos, Inc. |
