Hollywood Park OKs Boomtown Deal

Hollywood Park Inc. shareholders, as expected, voted overwhelmingly Wednesday in favor of the company’s proposed $160-million acquisition of casino operator Boomtown Inc.

The vote came at the Inglewood-based firm’s annual meeting here.

Randall D. Hubbard, Hollywood Park’s chairman and largest stockholder, said that when the transaction closes, probably toward the end of the first quarter of 1997, Boomtown will relinquish its money-losing Las Vegas casino and proceed with expansion plans at its profitable Reno hotel-casino.

Hubbard also told shareholders during a question-and-answer session that Hollywood Park has a potential stake in the outcome of the struggle over nearby Santa Anita Cos.

If successful in gaining control of Santa Anita, Koll Arcadia Investors, the group led by California real estate developer Donald Koll and New York financier Leon Black, would probably close the Santa Anita racetrack, freeing up Santa Anita’s 120 racing dates, Hubbard said.

A spokesman for Koll said Hubbard “is speaking for himself,” and added that Koll is evaluating “all alternatives to maximize shareholder value.”

Hollywood Park currently has 100 racing dates and could boost its track revenue considerably if it could acquire more dates from Santa Anita.

One obstacle to closing the Santa Anita track, however, is a measure on next Tuesday’s ballot in Arcadia that would require voter approval for any significant changes to Santa Anita’s racetrack property.

Boomtown stockholders are scheduled to vote on the Hollywood Park merger Nov. 13. After that, the deal would face reviews by gambling authorities in Nevada, Louisiana and Mississippi, where Boomtown has casinos.

One potential deal breaker is next Tuesday’s election in Louisiana, where voters will decide whether to abolish gambling. Hubbard said polling indicates that voters in Jefferson Parish, where Boomtown’s riverboat casino is located, favor retaining gambling by a wide margin.