Gateway Casinos, casino operators in North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Thunder Bay, would seek to obtain US$1.8 billion in private credit.

Citing anonymous sources, Bloomberg reports that one of Canada’s largest gaming companies is working with Morgan Stanley to contact interested lenders to help it refinance its loans and pay a dividend to its owners.

Gateway has been majority-owned by Catalyst Capital Group, a private equity firm, since 2009. It operates 31 gaming sites in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia.

Bloomberg said these private discussions were in the preliminary stages and the details and scope of a potential deal could change. THE Bloomberg The article did not provide any additional information on the extent of Gateway’s debt situation.

Bloomberg was unable to obtain comment from Catalyst or Morgan Stanley.

In October last year, Bloomberg reported that Catalyst was being considered for sale among other strategic options.

A article in Casino.org stated a rating from Moody’s Investor Service carried out in November 2022 upgraded the casino operator from “Caa1” to “B3”.

“The ‘B3’ rating is six notches into junk territory at Moody’s,” the article said.

A rival in the video game industry, Great Canadian Entertainment, owned by Apollo Global Management, is also seeking a $665 million loan in the United States to pay down debt with higher interest rates. Great Canadian has 25 branches in Ontario, British Columbia, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.