LV company buying riverboat for $42 mil.

Monday, Aug. 2, 1999 | 10:58 a.m.

Lady Luck Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas said it agreed to buy a riverboat casino on the Mississippi River at Marquette, Iowa, for $41.67 million and the assumption of liabilities from Sodak Gaming Inc.

Sodak is selling the Miss Marquette boat because it's being acquired by International Game Technology of Reno. Lady Luck did not say how it will finance the deal, revealing only that the financing method is still pending.

In 1998 the Miss Marquette generated net revenues of $35.9 million and EBITDA of $8.7 million in 1998, Lady Luck said. EBITDA is cash flow, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

The riverboat has 914 gambling positions, including 698 slot machines, a 590-space parking lot, land-based restaurant/buffet, live entertainment showroom, 24-room hotel and a marina with 32 slip spaces.

"This move fits our strategy of diversifying our revenue sources through the acquisition and development of facilities and projects of a manageable size and scope. Our presence in Bettendorf, Iowa, to the south of Marquette gives us a familiarity with the Miss Marquette market. We have been impressed by the market and by the management of the facility," Lady Luck President Alain Uboldi said.

Lady Luck also has dockside and riverboat casinos in Mississippi and is developing more projects in Mississippi and Missouri.

It last week reported a second-quarter profit of $2.2 million or 46 cents a share, up 170 percent on a pro forma basis from the year-earlier quarter. The pro forma presentation adjusts for the sale of a Biloxi, Miss., casino.