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February
23,
2009
EDTC
Withdraws Offer to Purchase Race Track
Nordic
Gaming Corporation / Elad Canada, the owner and operator
of the Fort Erie Race Track, has been working with both
the Town of Fort Erie and the Province of Ontario, as
well as other stakeholders, for the past several
years to move forward with a proposal
to revitalize the Town of Fort Erie as a major tourist
destination and in so doing, generate sufficient population
to operate a profitable racetrack.
More
recently, Elad has been working with the Town of Fort
Erie, in addition to the Province and other stakeholders,
to ensure that live racing would continue in Fort Erie
for the 2009 racing season. It was within this
context that a proposal was
made by the local Economic
Development and Tourism Corporation (EDTC)
to work with the Province to purchase
the Fort Erie Race Track.
On
Friday, February 20, 2009 the EDTC presented Elad with
a very lengthy offer that contained a myriad of conditions
that from both an economic and performance perspective
were non achievable and unacceptable. In
addition, the only condition that Elad had previously
placed on an offer, which would have
ensured live racing for 2009, was not fully satisfied. While
Elad was prepared to continue negotiating with
the EDTC to arrive at an agreement
on both the
shortfall and the conditions that
the EDTC attached to the offer
that it presented on Friday afternoon, on Monday, February
23, 2009, Elad Canada was informed by email that in fact,
the EDTC was withdrawing its offer to purchase the Race
Track.
While
it is unfortunate that there
will be no agreement to purchase between the EDTC and
Elad, Elad and Nordic continue
to believe in the importance of the Fort Erie Race Track
both to the local community and the
Province as a whole. In that regard, the
Company will continue to work diligently
to try and find a commercially
viable solution to ensure the
Race Track’s long-term survival.
Daryl Wells
Media and Communications 1-800-295-3770 ext. 3204
e-mail: dwells@forterieracetrack.ca
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