Changes that go beyond its corporate ownership appear to be in the offing for the Isle of Capri Casino property in Vicksburg.

In an agreement announced Tuesday, Isle of Capri Casino Inc. will sell its Vicksburg and Bossier City properties to Legends Gaming LLC for $240 million.

The deal will not be complete until it is approved by the Mississippi Gaming Commission and Louisiana Gaming Control Board.

Even with Legends agreeing to retain all Vicksburg and Bossier City employees except senior management officials the Isle may want to keep on hand to transfer, Vicksburg Isle general manager Kim Tullos said the atmosphere will be tenuous at best for the time being.

&#8220My position is still under negotiation,” Tullos said, adding that she &#8220was given some options” but will not have a clearer read on her future until she and other Isle executives meet with Legends officials this week.

Tullos said the rest of the Isle’s 525 employees reacted in a way &#8220as you’d expect in a situation like this.”

&#8220There’s some anger, some sadness, confusion and a lot of questions. Of course, it’s tough to answer those questions right now,” Tullos said.

The announced sale is only the latest in a series of changes to the Isle’s corporate footprint in the nearly six months since Hurricane Katrina ravaged its casino in Biloxi.

Its corporate headquarters is moving from Biloxi to suburban St. Louis. The proceeds from the sale of its Vicksburg and Bossier City casinos will go toward paying down debt and improving its other 13 casinos and harness racing parks.

Its potential new owners, Legends Gaming LLC , was started in 2004 by its current chairman, William J. McEnery, Michael E. Kelly, its president and chief executive officer, and G. Dan Marshall, its chief operating officer and chief financial officer.

McEnery, 63, was a founding partner of Argosy Gaming Company in 1993. For two years before, he was the original financial backer of the first licensed casino in the state of Illinois, the Alton Belle Casino in Alton, Ill.

McEnery remained on Argosy’s board of directors until resigning in 2000 to found Empress River Entertainment Corp., parent company of casinos in Joliet, Ill., and Hammond, Ind.

In addition to gaming interests, McEnery has majority interests in seven Chicago area restaurants, 50 convenience stores primarily in the Midwest and in AD Conner Inc., an Illinois-based trucking company.

Kelly, 42, who is expected to be the day-to-day general manager of the Isle property once it is licensed and approved, has 23 years of casino management, including stints at Harrah’s Entertainment Co., Fitzgerald’s Casino, which has a brand in Tunica, the Empress property in Joliet and the Majestic Star Casino in Black Hawk, Colo.

Marshall, 61, was on the board of Argosy along with McEnery from its 1993 inception to 2004. Before that, he spent 28 years on Wall Street, compiling a resume that included stints at investment banks A.G. Becker and Co. and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette.

He held executive positions with six Argosy-owned casinos in as many states, one of which was the Belle of Baton Rouge that Argosy renamed.

Marshall said Tuesday that the barge currently housing the Isle will be rebranded and renamed to reflect his partners’ five decades of combined experience in the industry.

&#8220You won’t be able to tell there was ever an Isle casino there,” said G. Dan Marshall, chief operating officer and chief financial officer for the company.

The tropical-themed attractions that accent the Isle’s properties will disappear, Marshall said, with the entire facility being remade inside and out down to the carpeting.

A key advantage of the Isle selling the propeties to Legends will be the emphasis a small company can give to them, Marshall said.

&#8220They will get very direct attention because they will be our core assets,” Marshall said.

The purchase is Legends Gaming’s first purchase in Mississippi and Louisiana and the third attempt overall.

In July 2004, the group attempted to purchase the Majestic Star in Black Hawk, the one-time employer of Kelly, for $66 million from its wholly owned subsidiary, Barden Colorado Gaming LLC.

The deal was terminated by both parties in April 2005 when problems arose with the sale of bonds.

Majestic Star’s president and CEO, Don H. Barden, also heads up the operating subsidiary of two Fitzgerald-brand casinos in Tunica.

Licensing and approval of casino ventures in Mississippi come in three phases.

First the site must be approved, then the prospective owners have six months to present a site developent plan to the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

A maximum of two years is allotted between that and an approval to proceed, during which the commission must be presented with a financial package to approve the group’s finances. A license is then issued.

Marshall, however, expected the licensing process to be shorter in their case, six months at most.

&#8220None of us have ever been involved in a venture that was denied a license,” Marshall said.