Magna Entertainment agrees to settle with former track owners over rights to slots revenue
By Randall Chase, APMonday, March 22, 2010
Magna, track owners agree to settle slots dispute
DOVER, Del. — Magna Entertainment Corp. says it has agreed to settle with the former owners of Laurel Park and Pimlico horse tracks in Maryland over slot machine gambling rights.
Magna told a Delaware bankruptcy judge it is critical that the settlement be approved at hearing Tuesday before the two tracks are sold at a scheduled Thursday auction.
Joseph De Francis and other former owners of the Magna tracks have said they have exclusive rights to future slots revenue at Laurel Park under a 2002 agreement.
In return for assigning those rights to Magna, they can assert claims of $12 million in Magna’s bankruptcy case and will share in any auction proceeds above $39 million. They also could receive an additional $1 million from Magna’s parent company.
