Churchill Downs Inc. buying back 1 million shares from The Duchossois Group

For the third time in five years, Churchill Downs Inc. has reached an agreement to buy back an enormous bloc of shares from a company controlled by the Duchossois family, the former owner of Arlington Park near Chicago.

The privately negotiated transaction will pay The Duchossois Group $193.9 million for 1 million shares of the company’s stock. Since 2015, Churchill Downs Inc. has bought back $490.1 million in shares from the Duchossois family. Arlington Park merged with Churchill Downs in 2000.

In an announcement of the transaction, Churchill said that it will use cash and borrowings under its senior credit facility for the purchase. Churchill also said that the transaction will not count against the $147.1 million that its board has authorized for its share-repurchase plan.

According to the purchase agreement filed with the SEC, The Duchossois Group will still own 2 million shares of Churchill’s stock following the completion of the transaction.

Churchill’s stock dipped to $73 in mid-March when the COVID-19 pandemic began shuttering casinos and racetracks across the United States. However, the stock has steadily climbed since that date, and on Tuesday, the day the transaction was announced, the stock closed at $206.