Full House Resorts shares soar after casino deal announced

Shares of Full House Resorts Inc. gained more than 5 percent Tuesday after the gaming company announced it would buy a 5-year-old Mississippi casino for $70 million.

The Las Vegas-based company, which develops and manages casinos, announced the purchase of the Silver Slipper Casino in Bay St. Louis, Miss., a day after it closed a $97.5 million sale of its interest in the FireKeepers casino in Battle Creek, Mich.

"The company anticipates having firm financing commitments for ($70 million) by the end of April and that regulatory approvals will be obtained to accommodate a closing in the third quarter," a statement from Full House Resorts Inc. said.

The Silver Slipper Casino, which opened in November 2006, is a 37,000- square-foot casino. The property includes restaurants and bars but no hotel, Full House Chairman and CEO Andre Hilliou said.

"This property is perfectly sized to complement our current business and provides a substantial growth opportunity through the possible addition of a hotel," Hilliou said.

"We believe that we can leverage our knowledge ... of managing properties catering to local customers in competitive environments to further improve the profitability of the Silver Slipper."

Hilliou said the Silver Slipper Casino draws heavily from New Orleans and other communities in southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi.

Full House shares gained 16 cents, or 5.61 percent, to close at $3.01 Tuesday on heavy volume of 108,693 shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange's AMEX market. The company averages 36,975 shares traded daily over the last three months.

The firm's share price has bottomed at $2.25, while reaching a new high of $4.28 in the last 52 weeks.

Full House owns or manages casinos in Nevada, New Mexico and Indiana.

The company owns the Rising Star Casino in Rising Sun, Ind., a property that includes a 40,000-square-foot casino and 201-room hotel.

The company's Nevada properties include Stockman's Casino in Fallon and a five-year lease agreement for the Grand Lodge Casino at the Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe Resort in Incline Village.

Full House reported its Nevada gaming properties lost $2.26 million on revenues of $12.3 million last year, compared with net income of $976,664 on revenues of $8.33 million in 2010.

Full House also has a three-year contract with the Pueblo Pojoaque Tribe to mange the Buffalo Thunder Casino in Santa Fe, N.M. The contact, which took effect Sept. 23, earned the company $900,000 in the fourth quarter.

Contact reporter Chris Sieroty at
csieroty@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893.