Isle of Capri to close its Natchez casino and sell adjacent hotel, other assets to competing casino

Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. plans to close its Natchez, Mississippi casino in October and sell the company's nearby hotel to the competing casino there.

The planned closure announced Tuesday (8/11) would affect 217 employees. The Isle has operated the Natchez casino since 2000.

Casino Holding Investment Partners LLC, owner of the Magnolia Bluffs Casino, will buy the Isle hotel and other non-gaming assets for $11.5 million, according to the Isle announcement.

"We are proud of all that we have accomplished together and we thank our team members for their dedication and hard work in the many years we have operated in Natchez," Isle President and CEO Virginia McDowell said in the news release announcing the closure.

The Isle is in the midst of building a new Bettendorf land-based casino which will connect with the company's two riverfront hotels. The new gambling facility is expected to open next year and will replace the riverboat casino docked along the Mississippi River. It will compete with a new land-based casino being built in Davenport and the existing land-based casino across the river in Rock Island.

The Isle's Natchez casino has posted operating losses the past two years, including a $2.1 loss in fiscal 2015 and $2.36 million in fiscal 2014. The casino had $1.33 million in operating income in fiscal 2013.

The Isle has 15 gambling venues in Mississippi, Missouri, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Florida and Iowa. The Iowa casinos are located in Waterloo, Bettendorf and Marquette.

Go to top