Gaming briefs for April 14, 2004

Wednesday, April 14, 2004 | 11:05 a.m.

Debt rating cut

Boyd Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas, the owner of the Stardust and other casinos, had its senior secured debt rating cut one level by Standard & Poor's Tuesday as the company tries to increase the amount it can borrow from bankers.

The rating was reduced to BB from BB+, Standard & Poor's said in a statement. The BB- senior unsecured rating was unchanged.

Boyd Gaming is talking to bankers about boosting its credit line to $1.5 billion from $500 million to help pay for the purchase of smaller Coast Casinos Inc. The increased borrowing means secured lenders would be less likely to recover their principal in the event Boyd defaulted, said Michael Scerbo, a director at Standard & Poor's.

Boyd will have $2.3 billion in total debt when it purchases Coast and a Shreveport, La., casino from Harrah's Entertainment Inc. this year, Scerbo said.

Investigator hired

CHICAGO -- The Illinois Gaming Board on Tuesday hired the former deputy U.S. attorney general that Gov. Rod Blagojevich picked to review the board's decision to allow the state's 10th casino to be built in Rosemont.

In interviews Tuesday with the Associated Press, Gaming Board Chairman Elzie Higginbottom and Blagojevich both insisted there was not a conflict of interest in the board employing the person charged with investigating the board's decision.

They said that's because the only way Holder can review confidential Gaming Board documents related to the license is for him to be hired by the Gaming Board as a special investigator.

"The attorney general's office suggested that because of attorney-client privileges and other issues, the best way to ensure access to the type of information was for the Gaming Board to hire Mr. Holder," Blagojevich said in a telephone interview.

Gaming win up 5.5 percent

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- March was another record month for the gambling industry in Missouri, with the state's 11 casinos reporting revenue of $123.6 million.

Ameristar Casinos Inc. led the way with its casinos in both the St. Louis and Kansas City areas producing a combined total of $45.8 million, according to Missouri Gaming Commission reports.

The take at the St. Charles Ameristar Casino was $25.5 million, a 13.3 percent rise from the same month last year and a record monthly amount for a one-boat casino operation.