Aztar Corp., the owner of the Tropicana casino-hotels in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, was acquired yesterday by Columbia Entertainment for $2.1 billion.
Gaming authorities in Nevada, Indiana and New Jersey approved the deal last year and the two firms agreed to the deal in May. With the purchase, Columbia now has 13 casinos in the United States. They also own 75 hotels in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean operating under brands such as Doubletree, Westin, Sheraton, Renaissance and Marriott and Hilton.
Columbia Sussex owner and CEO Bill Yung III said the company would continue to operate three other casinos from the Aztar deal – the Tropicana in Atlantic City; the Ramada Express in Laughlin, Nevada and the Casino Aztar riverboat in Evansville, Indiana.
Yung stated that once the deal is completed, he plans to drastically expand the Tropicana in Las Vegas from a 1,900-room hotel to more than 7,000 rooms.
The Tropicana Las Vegas casino opened in 1957 and is showing signs of age. The hotel has 1,871 rooms and is attached to a 61,000 square foot and has a prime location in the city. In addition to the casino, the Tropicana includes a showroom, swimming pool, spa comedy club and shops.
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