NEWS RELEASE
DiamondRock Closes the $62 Million Acquisition and Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. Announces B.B. King 80th Birthday Benefit Concert Lineup
City of Industry, CA --(www.FinancialNewsUSA.com)-- 06/27/2005 - Resort and Casino industry news provided by Financial News USA (OTC: FNWU). DiamondRock Hospitality Company ("DiamondRock") (NYSE: DRH) announced that it acquired from Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: MTN) the 345-room Vail Marriott Mountain Resort & Spa located at the base of Vail Mountain, Colorado. The contractual purchase price for the resort was $62 million. Based on a forecast prepared by the hotel manager, the resort is expected to produce approximately $5.8 million of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") for the fiscal year ending July 2005. Vail Resorts has invested more than $30 million during the past few years to reposition and raise the resort to achieve a Four Diamond rating. As part of the purchase price, Vail has committed to invest several million dollars to complete further upgrades to the resort over the next year. In addition, DiamondRock plans to capitalize on the prior repositioning and invest an additional $1.5 million in the resort to further enable it to capture higher rated business.
Diamond I, Inc. (OTCBB: DMOI), a developer of wireless gaming products, issued a statement today regarding its perception of the country's gaming industry, particularly with respect to the gaming industry outside of Las Vegas. In its statement, Diamond I indicated that it had experienced a high degree of interest in its WifiCasino GS(TM) wireless gaming products from casino operators across the U.S., particularly from smaller casino operators in search of ways to maximize their patrons' gaming experience. These casino operators include Native American Indian tribes in several states, where, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission, Indian gaming revenue exceeded $16.7 billion at 330 casinos in 2003, up from $9.8 billion at 310 casinos in 1999. Musical legend B.B. King is turning 80 years old, and some of the hottest names in entertainment will be by his side on Saturday, July 30 to honor the artist as the Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. hosts the B.B. King 80th Birthday Benefit concert. Isle of Capri (Nasdaq: ISLE) officials announced a preliminary lineup for the concert, to be held at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi. Emmy-award winning television personality, author, activist and talk-show host Montel Williams will serve as master of ceremonies for this once-in-a-lifetime evening.
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