Magna Closing in on Flamboro Downs Purchase

Magna Entertainment moved a step closer to acquiring Flamboro Downs when a company owned by one of its executives acquired the shares of the Ontario harness track.

A former Magna subsidiary called Ontario Racing reportedly acquired the shares of Flamboro Downs Holdings, which owns a harness racetrack that houses a gaming facility with 750 slot machines operated by Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. The company is owned by Andrew Gaughan, who is Magna's vice president of new media projects.

Gaughan reportedly has an agreement to transfer the shares of Ontario Racing to Magna five days after the racing conglomerate receives regulatory approvals for the acquisition of Flamboro Downs. The company expects to receive these approvals within 90 days.

Magna has offered a total of $47 million for the harness track. The deal involves about $21 million in cash and the assumption of $26 million in debt. The casino generated an estimated $65 million in total win through March 2002, the end of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming's fiscal year.