Colonial Downs Holdings Inc. Will
Announce Strategic Plan in 60 Days
NEW KENT, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--October 21, 1998--(Nasdaq: CDWN - news) After the
monthly Virginia Racing Commission meeting today Jeffery P. Jacobs, Colonial Downs President
and Chief Operating Officer, announced that in the next 60 days the Company expects to announce
a strategic plan designed to improve the Company's financial condition.
In preparing the plan, the Company is considering all options including reorganization under Chapter
11. Mr. Jacobs also announced that the Company will seek the support of stakeholders in the
Virginia horse industry including the Virginia Racing Commission and horsemen's groups to pursue a
legislative amendment to the law that requires the Company to race 150 days a year by the year
2002. Jacobs said, ''The law, in its present form, impedes increasing the number of live race days in
Virginia because it is an impediment to raising additional capital and consequently the expansion of
the Virginia horse industry. It has the exact opposite effect on the growth of live racing that it was
intended to have. I am hopeful of potential legislative support because Colonial Downs means jobs,
economic development, tourism and tax revenue to the citizens of Virginia.''
In other news:
The Company is unlikely to seek a referendum for an additional racing center in the
short-term. Mr. Jacobs stated, ''I understand political winds, and the current political winds
are not conducive to passing a racing center referendum in Virginia. However, I will continue
to explore other investment opportunities on behalf of Colonial Downs that will allow us to
grow our number of live thoroughbred race days.''
The Company is compiling its 3rd quarter earnings results and warned that earlier predictions
of a loss of $4-6 million for 1998 appear to be consistent with 3rd quarter results.
Darrell Wood has been appointed as the new Director of Marketing. Wood had served as
the Director of Public Relations for Colonial Downs and served in a similar position at Buffalo
Raceway in Buffalo, New York before coming to Colonial Downs in the spring of 1998.
Colonial Downs Holdings, Inc. is a Virginia corporation organized in November 1996 to pursue
opportunities for horse race wagering in Virginia. The Company through its subsidiaries holds the
only unlimited licenses to own and operate a pari-mutuel horse racing course and satellite wagering
facilities/racing centers in Virginia. Colonial Downs Holdings, Inc. became a publicly-held company
in March 1997 and trades on the NASDAQ National Market System under the symbol CDWN. |
