INDIANAPOLIS, April 7 (UPI) -- Indianapolis Downs LLC, which operates a casino and a racetrack in Indiana, said Thursday it had filed for bankruptcy protection.
The firm that operates Indiana Downs, a racetrack in Shelbyville and the Indiana Live!Casino near Indianapolis said its businesses would remain open.
The casino and the racetrack were self-sustaining, generating enough revenue to keep operating, the Indianapolis Star reported. However, the parent company filed for protection, as it was having trouble keeping up with its debt.
The company said a $250 million license fee from the state and high taxes had forced it to seek court protection so it could restructure its debt.
"Indiana Live! and Indiana Downs ... (are) operationally profitable, but new, business that has not yet achieved its full potential," said Chief Restructuring Office Gregory Rayburn in a statement.
Court papers said that Indianapolis Downs, which filed for Chapter 11 protection in federal court in Wilmington, Del., has assets between $500 million and $1 billion and debts of $100 million to $500 million, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Rayburn said court protection was "an enabling step for our company, as the process will allow us to restructure our debt, make operational improvements and benefit from other available value enhancements."
"Most importantly," he said, "this process will provide Indianapolis Downs with the time we need to enhance our enterprise value and the value of our secured lenders' collateral."
