Kennedy Lewis Completes Takeover of Greenbrier Casino

_{The Greenbrier Casino will remain open thanks to a timely takeover from Kennedy Lewis. (Photo: Andre Jenny / Alamy)}

New York-based financial firm Kennedy Lewis Investment Management took over complete control of casino operations at The Greenbrier on Wednesday after the West Virginia Lottery Commission approved a new chairman and board members for the resort.

New Money Set to Wipe Out Greenbrier Debts

Lloyd Nathan has been appointed as the new chairman of the historic West Virginia casino resort resort, with Kennedy Lewis taking over majority ownership from Sen. Jim Justice (R-West Virginia) and his family.

The takeover by Kennedy Lewis prevented the potential closure of The Casino Club at the Greenbrier, which the Justice family had warned could happen if the refinancing deal wasn’t completed in the near future.

Kennedy Lewis invested $500 million to take a 51% interest in The Greenbrier, a move that would also inject enough cash into the resort in order to give the property a lifeline. The deal leaves the Justice family with a 49% stake in The Greenbrier and prevents the company from going into receivership due to approximately $300 million in debt.

The West Virginia Lottery Commission announced that it had approved Kennedy Lewis to take over the casino during a Wednesday meeting. Steve Ruby, who served as counsel for The Greenbrier, spoke to the commission on behalf of the new owners.

“As I think everybody’s aware, The Greenbrier recently entered into a transaction with a new business partner that has paid off a very significant amount of debt and addressed a lot of the concerns that the lottery and the commission and the staff had expressed about the Greenbrier’s business,” Ruby told the commission.

Kennedy Lewis Gets Blessing from Governor

During the meeting, Kennedy Lewis also announced that it had appointed Brian Dubin, Doug Gerowski, Lloyd Nathan and Jill Justice to the board of Greenbrier Holco LLC, the new joint venture running The Greenbrier. The new board members will not be able to exercise any authority over casino operations, however, until the West Virginia Lottery Commission has completed its review of the transaction and those individuals.

West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey also released a statement Wednesday congratulating Kennedy Lewis on taking control of the resort.

“I am hopeful that the new controlling [casino] owner will bring much needed financial stability to the iconic Greenbrier resort," Morrisey said in the statement. "While the Greenbrier remains under the Lottery Commission’s financial watch, our administration will continue its monitoring of the casino and remain vigilant in our ongoing efforts to protect West Virginia jobs.”

Much of the new money being injected into The Greenbrier is expected to be used to refurbish the resort, though Ruby told the commission that some of the reports of maintenance issues have been exaggerated. He also told commissioners that an existing lawsuit against The Greenbrier, brought by First Guaranty Bank, might actually benefit the property.

“The Greenbrier disputes the allegations that have been made by the bank and has asserted a counterclaim against the bank, which, if successful, would result in very significant liability from the bank to The Greenbrier,” Ruby said.

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