Golden Entertainment boss is buying casino company
Golden Entertainment boss Blake Sartini is buying the company while an outside landlord purchases The Strat and other casinos and leases them back to the new owner.
Las Vegas-based Golden announced Thursday that it reached a deal to sell its operating assets to Sartini, the company’s chairman and chief executive, and seven of its casino real estate assets to Vici Properties.
Overall, the deal is valued at $30 per share, Golden indicated in a news release, without providing an overall total value of the transaction.
Vici announced that it was acquiring the casino properties from Golden for $1.16 billion and leasing them to Sartini for initial total annual rent of $87 million.
The portfolio includes The Strat, the two Arizona Charlie’s properties in Las Vegas, the Aquarius and Edgewater resorts in Laughlin, and the Pahrump Nugget.
Golden’s stock price soared on the news, rising 35.56 percent, or $7.55, to $28.78 by mid-day trading Thursday.
Sartini said in a news release that the transaction “maximizes value for our shareholders by providing a significant premium to our current share price.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342.
