The West Virginia Lottery Commission has unanimously approved Colorado-based Century Casinos’ purchase of Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort in New Cumberland from Eldorado Resorts for $107 million. The deal is expected to close early next year.
Century Casinos Co-Chief Executive Officer Erwin Haitzmann said Mountaineer fits “very well” into his company’s portfolio. “Century already has two racetrack casinos. So this would be the third one,” he said.
State Lottery Director John Myers said Century already operates medium-sized casinos in Colorado, Canada and England. “I think that’s been the way they’ve been able to grow their company. They don’t try to take on too big of a property, they take on the size they are used to managing and they can apply the same principles across all those properties,” Myers said.
Haitzmann said he’s visited Mountaineer several times. “My impression is that it’s a great staff and we want to keep everyone from the general manager down to the lowest level,” he said. “We have no intention of making any changes. We think it’s a wonderful group of people.”
Haitzmann noted, “Mountaineer used to be larger and with all the real estate available we see an upside and the possibility to grow further. Mountaineer is profitable now, you may say, in spite of the competition. I think it’s a healthy competition for the customers and think we’re well-equipped to get our fair share of the market.”
Opened in 1951, Mountaineer became a casino in 1994. It has a 357-room hotel, 1,500 slot machines and 36 table games.
