Firekeepers

Huron Nottawaseppi Purchased Management Contract of Firekeepers Casino

Kate Fort

From the Battle Creek Enquirer:

As of Friday, FireKeepers Casino’s owners have taken over its day-to-day operations — more than four years sooner than planned.

The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi today announced that it had closed on the $97 million purchase of the casino’s management contract with Full House Resorts Inc.

The contract buyout is part of a $385 million refinancing package that will be used to pay outstanding bonds and loans for development and operation of the casino’s new hotel and events center, according to a statement from the tribe.

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The refinancing deal was carried out with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, whose managing director, Jeff Carey, was credited in the statement with creating a refinancing model that “was very complementary and conducive for a Native American owned and operated gaming business.”

Nottawaseppi Huron Pays Back Loan Early

Kate Fort

From the Kalamazoo Gazette:

Alex Nixon

EMMETT TOWNSHIP — The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, the Native American tribe that owns FireKeepers Casino, said today it paid off a $35 million loan four years earlier than its due date.

According to a press release, the loan was used to purchase FireKeepers’ 2,680 slot machines.

The tribe paid off the loan on Aug. 12, a year after the casino in Emmett Township opened its doors. The casino is located on Interstate 94, just east of Battle Creek.

“Paying off this loan four years in advance attests to the success of FireKeepers Casino,” Tribal Chairperson Homer A. Mandoka said in the release. “The Tribal Council accomplished this on behalf of its 1,146 tribal members.”

The $300 million casino employs 1,500 workers. It’s owned by the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, but managed by a separate company, Gaming Entertainment Michigan LLC. Gaming Entertainment is a joint venture between Full House Resorts Inc.  and RAM Entertainment LLC, a privately owned investment company.

The tribe also contributed four percent of the casino’s slot revenues to the State of Michigan.

Nottawaseppi Huron Band in Talks to Amend Gaming Compact

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Battle Creek Inquirer:

The governor’s attorney said Tuesday the revised compact for FireKeepers Casino should be done within 60 days and offered clues to what the new document might look like.

The Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, owner of FireKeepers, has been in talks the past several weeks with the state of Michigan on changes to the 1998 compact that allowed the tribe to move forward with the casino.

On Monday, John Wernet, general counsel to Gov. Jennifer Granholm, would not offer details to what changes might be made to the compact but said it would be similar to changes made to compacts with the Pokagon Band (New Buffalo) of Potawatomi, the Little River (Manistee) Band of Ottawa and Little Traverse Bay (Petoskey) Band of Odawa Indians.

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