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Indiana Live owners miss interest payment

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Indiana liveThe owners of Indiana Live racetrack and casino failed to make an interest payment due Nov. 1 on $375 million in debt, providing additional fodder for credit analysts already worried about its financial condition.

As IBJ reported last month, the Shelbyville venue has been the subject of analyst attention given its massive debt load. All told, South Bend-based Oliver Racing LLC owes $544 million, mostly in bonds.

Moody’s Investors Service said in March that the capital structure “is not sustainable in its current form,” and analysts from ratings agency Standard & Poor's have speculated that default is imminent.

Both Indiana Live and Indianapolis-based Centaur Inc., owner of Hoosier Park in Anderson, borrowed heavily after the General Assembly in 2007 allowed the horse tracks to add slot machines in return for a $250 million licensing fee.

The slots parlors, which opened the following year, have drawn smaller crowds than projected, in part because of the recession. Centaur slid into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March of this year and is selling off holdings in Colorado and Pennsylvania to reduce debt.


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  • No, he won't, not!
    He will when he needs the state employment numbers to improve.
  • No, he won't.
    The racinos have been lobbying hard for tax credits etc almost from the day they opened to less than projected revenues. They have been turned down by Daniels and the state legislature every step of the way. Proof is the fact that Hoosier Park went into Chapt 11. No one bailed them out. So why do you think anyone would bail Live out? It's a shame you are so clueless about this.
  • Mitch to Save the Day
    Don't worry, Mitch will bail them out with tax credits and tax-free incentives. He needs to step up to the plate for all they did for his campaign funds. Without the tax revenues, Mitch will be able to cut more to education and blame it on people not gambling their life earnings away. The state can't afford to fund the essential stuff when so many cronies are in need

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