Boyd Gaming strikes $380M deal to purchase Aliante Hotel

Las Vegas-based Boyd Gaming Corp. on Thursday announced it has a deal to acquire the holding company for Aliante Hotel in North Las Vegas.

The acquisition of the holding company, ALST Casino Holdco LLC, is for $380 million cash, according to a statement.

The hotel had been rumored to be on the market for several weeks.

“Aliante is an asset without rival in the North Las Vegas market, strategically positioned to benefit from substantial future growth across the northern part of the Las Vegas Valley,” said Boyd President and CEO Keith Smith in a statement.

Industry observers generally praised the deal Thursday.

Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli said in a note to investors that the purchase “fills a geographic hole” in Boyd’s locals portfolio, which has no properties in North Las Vegas’ $270 million gaming market.

Targets for a 9.7 percent gain in revenue in 2016 are “reasonable” as Boyd brings its B Connected loyalty program to Aliante, Santarelli added. The acquisition will also bring to Aliante efficiencies in purchasing, shared services, insurance and other expenses.

Wells Fargo Securities’ equity research division released analysis saying it made sense for Boyd to up its exposure to the Las Vegas market, which generates about 30 percent of the company’s net income. Boyd also operates in New Jersey, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kansas, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana.

Local indicators including wage growth and taxable sales “remain positive,” the report said. Gaming revenue in North Las Vegas increased 3 percent in 2015.

North Las Vegas in particular could be set for a broader economic boom, with Faraday Future’s $1 billion car-manufacturing plant ready to start construction. The project could create 4,500 direct jobs and 9,000 indirect jobs.

“The factory coming to Nevada is reflective of the business-friendly environment (low tax rates), state and local government’s focus on spurring new investment and the cities’ favorable climate and number of year-round entertainment options,” Wells Fargo’s report said.

It added that the factory would be “a positive development for both the downtown and Las Vegas locals economy.”

The $662 million Aliante opened Nov. 11, 2008, as a joint venture between the Greenspun Corp. and Station Casinos. Greenspun donated 40 acres for the project that was expected to draw from the Aliante master-planned community just as the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson had done with Green Valley.

After it opened as Aliante Station in the midst of the Great Recession, the property struggled and defaulted on payments to creditors. Aliante’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case closed in 2012 after a Reno bankruptcy court approved its plan in May 2011. The property went to lenders who were owed $378 million.

Situated at 7300 N. Aliante Parkway, Aliante Hotel has 202 rooms. The hotel and casino includes more than 1,800 slot machines, 36 table games, a race and sports book and Regal Aliante Stadium 14 cinema.

It’s the second reported deal involving Boyd Gaming in two days.

Reuters reported Wednesday that Boyd is close to an agreement to buy Cannery Casino Resorts in a deal that will value the privately held U.S. company at between $225 million and $240 million.

One of Cannery Casino Resorts’ two Las Vegas locations — the Cannery and Eastside Cannery — would give Boyd a strong foothold in the fast-growing north area of the city, which is emerging as a hub for technology start-ups, attracting affluent professionals with money to gamble.

An agreement between Boyd and Cannery Casino Resorts could come within weeks, sources told Reuters, asking not to be named because the matter was private.

Boyd spokesman David Strow said late Thursday that the company had nothing further to add about a potential Cannery deal.

“We’ve said many times that we are looking for ways to grow, and we look at many potential opportunities,” Strow said. “But we don’t comment on speculation about what we may or may not be interested in acquiring.”