The Foundation Gaming Group will purchase Vicksburg’s DiamondJacks casino located on the Mississippi River, which the Gulfport-based company has operated since the casino emerged from bankruptcy in 2013, according to an announcement made by Foundation on Monday.
The Mississippi Gaming Commission is scheduled to vote on Thursday to approve the sale of the former Isle of Capri which opened in 1993 and was Vicksburg’s first casino, which Legends Gaming purchased in 2006 and has declared bankruptcy twice. Neither party has disclosed the purchasing price.
The Foundation Gaming Group will borrow to purchase the casino from the current owners who were creditors in Legends most recent bankruptcy, according to the Group’s Chief Operations & Marketing Officer Les McMackin. Rather than recovering little of the $300 million Legends owed upon liquidation of the two casinos after a potential buyer bailed, creditors decided to maintain operation of them. The Vicksburg casino that has 300 plus employees will continue to operate as DiamondJacks.
While gambling revenues are growing again in Mississippi’s Gulf Coast market, which Vicksburg is the third largest; casinos in the Magnolia State along the Mississippi River continue to see a decrease in gambling revenue. In recent years casinos in Tunica and Vicksburg have closed and scheduled to close this month is the Isle of Capri Natchez, which would limit the number of casinos along the river to 16.