Aztar Corporation was a hospitality company based in

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, focused on resort

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

s and

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...

s. In 2005, the company had revenues of more than $915 million and earnings before interest and taxes of $212 million. During 2006 the company became the subject of a bidding war for ownership, with

Columbia Sussex Columbia Sussex is a privately owned hotel company based in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. The company, owned by the Yung family, owns and operates hotels in various parts of the United States. The current president and founder is William J. Yung III. ...

winning.

History

Aztar was formed in 1989 as part of a restructuring of Ramada Inn, Inc. Ramada's gaming businesses, including the Tropicana Atlantic City and the

Tropicana Las Vegas The Tropicana Las Vegas is a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Bally's Corporation, on land leased from Gaming and Leisure Properties. It offers 1,467 rooms, a gaming floor, and of conventi ...

, were spun off as Aztar Corporation, which was given to Ramada's shareholders, while Ramada's restaurant and non-gaming hotel businesses remained with the original company, which was immediately acquired by Hong Kong-based

New World Development New World Development Company Limited (NWD), is a Hong Kong-based company focused on property, hotels, infrastructure and services and department stores. It was established on 29 May 1970 by Cheng Yu-tung. The company is publicly listed on the ...

. Aztar took its name as a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsCaruthersville, Missouri Caruthersville is a city in and the county seat of Pemiscot County, Missouri, United States, located along the Mississippi River in the Bootheel region of the state's far southeast. The population was 5,562, according to the 2020 census. Histor ...

and

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

. On March 5, 2002 Aztar acquired full ownership of the Tropicana location in Las Vegas by purchasing the 50% share held by Chicago's Jaffe family. During 2005, the company acquired a site in Allentown, Pennsylvania with the intention of securing a

gaming license A gaming control board (GCB), also called by various names including gambling control board, casino control board, gambling board, and gaming commission, is a government agency charged with regulating casino and other types of gaming in a defined ...

and then developing a casino. On March 13, 2006, Aztar announced plans to be acquired by

Pinnacle Entertainment Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. was an American gambling and hospitality company. It was acquired by Penn National Gaming in 2018. At the time of acquisition, it operated sixteen casino properties, located in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Miss ...

for $2.1 billion. Subsequent bids were made by

Colony Capital, LLC DigitalBridge Group, Inc. is a global digital infrastructure investment firm. The company owns, invests in and operates businesses such as cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells, and edge infrastructure. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Digita ...

and Ameristar Casinos. As of April 26, 2006, all four companies were engaged in bidding over Aztar, with Pinnacle increased its bid to $45 per share, matching Ameristar's bid; Columbia Sussex had previously bid $47 per share. Later, Columbia Sussex increased its bid to $50 a share, all in cash. Aztar management determined on May 1 that the latest bid was preferred over Pinnacle's late increase to $48 a share, in cash and stock. On May 4, 2006, Ameristar announced that it was pulling out of the bidding for Aztar. Additionally, Colony apparently lost interest, having failed to increase its bid beyond $41 a share and making no public comment for several weeks. Since Columbia Sussex eventually outbid Pinnacle, the latter company was paid a $50 million

termination fee {{About, fees for breaking terms of agreements or long-term contracts, Interconnect fees in (telephone) networks, Termination rates An early termination fee is a charge levied when a party wants to break the term of an agreement or long-term contra ...

plus expenses, which may total $16 million. Bidding ended on May 19, 2006 with the acceptance of a $2.75 billion bid from Columbia Sussex. Columbia Sussex paid a $313 million breakup fee in advance, in case the deal fell through with $78 million of that used to pay the breakup fee to Pinnacle Entertainment. The sale closed in January 2007. The

New Jersey Casino Control Commission The Casino Control Commission is a New Jersey state governmental agency that was founded in 1977 as the state's Gaming Control Board, responsible under the Casino Control Act for licensing casinos in Atlantic City. The commission also issues lic ...

ultimately rejected Columbia Sussex's application for a gaming license for the Tropicana Atlantic City, sending the company's gaming businesses into bankruptcy. Most of the Aztar properties became part of the reorganized Tropicana Entertainment Inc. in March 2010.

Casinos at time of acquisition

Tropicana Casino & Resort Atlantic City Tropicana Atlantic City, also known as The Trop and previously as TropWorld Resort, is a resort, casino hotel located on the beach and Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Caesars ...

– Atlantic City, New Jersey *

– Paradise, Nevada * Ramada Express –

Laughlin, Nevada Laughlin is an unincorporated resort town and census-designated place in Clark County, Nevada, United States. It is located on the Colorado River, directly across from the much larger Bullhead City, Arizona. Laughlin lies south of Las Vegas, in ...

Casino Aztar Evansville Bally's Evansville is a casino hotel and entertainment complex in downtown Evansville, Indiana, owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Bally's Corporation. Originally named Casino Aztar, it was opened by Aztar Corporation in 199 ...

–

* Casino Aztar Caruthersville –

Caruthersville, Missouri Caruthersville is a city in and the county seat of Pemiscot County, Missouri, United States, located along the Mississippi River in the Bootheel region of the state's far southeast. The population was 5,562, according to the 2020 census. Histor ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em 1989 establishments in Arizona 2007 disestablishments in Arizona Companies based in Phoenix, Arizona Defunct companies based in Arizona Defunct gambling companies Gambling companies established in 1989 Hospitality companies established in 1989 Gambling companies disestablished in 2007 Hospitality companies of the United States