GLPI to Purchase Sunland Park Real Estate Assets

Gaming and Leisure Properties announced Oct. 1 that it intends to acquire the real estate assets of Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino. GLPI will acquire the real estate assets of Sunland Park for $183.75 million, at an initial 8.2% cap rate. With the inclusion into the strategic gaming leases, annual rent on the lease will escalate at 2% per annum. Upon closing, the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to adjusted funds from operations per share. The transaction represents an expansion of the relationship with Strategic Gaming Management, an acquisitive operator of domestic casino assets. The acquisition will add a fourth asset to Strategic Gaming's existing triple-net master lease agreement with GLPI. With the closing of the transaction, which is expected to take place Oct. 15, Sunland Park will represent GLPI's second property in New Mexico. Sunland Park, located in southern New Mexico, along the Texas border, serves the underpenetrated El Paso, Texas-Las Cruces, N.M., gaming market, a high population and income growth geography. Given state regulatory protections, Sunland Park is uniquely positioned to operate in a stable gaming environment. Peter Carlino, GLPI's chairman and CEO, commented, "Through our acquisition of Sunland Park, we are again diversifying our property portfolio, while again supporting the growth strategy of an existing tenant, as we deepen our relationship with Strategic Gaming, a dynamic and growing gaming operator. This accretive transaction further strengthens GLPI's reputation as the gaming landlord of choice." Opened in 1959, Sunland Park sits on approximately 157 acres and offers 738 slot machines and 12 electronic gaming tables across a 25,000-square-foot gaming floor. The property includes a mile Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racetrack with a 733-seat stadium. It hosts a 600-person ballroom, a simulcast wagering area, and a 78-room third-party hotel. The property also has underused acreage that provides significant expansion and performance uplift opportunities. Truist Securities acted as financial adviser to Gaming and Leisure Properties. CBRE Investment Banking and Macquarie acted as financial advisers to Sunland Park. For further information, GLPI has posted a transaction presentation to its website, which can be accessed online. GLPI is engaged in the business of acquiring, financing, and owning real estate property to be leased to gaming operators in triple-net lease arrangements, pursuant to which the tenant is responsible for all facility maintenance, insurance required in connection with the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties, taxes levied on or with respect to the leased properties and all utilities and other services necessary or appropriate for the leased properties and the business conducted on the leased properties. Strategic Gaming Management is a multijurisdictional licensed operator of brick-and-mortar casinos founded in 2009 by CEO J. Grant Lincoln. Today, the company operates three casinos in Nevada and South Dakota in collaboration with its real estate partner and owner of the associated real estate, Gaming & Leisure Properties.