Golden Gaming, the company behind the PT’s tavern empire, took a big step forward today in its plans to expand beyond Nevada.
The Gaming Control Board gave its initial blessing for Golden Gaming to merge with Lakes Entertainment, a Minnesota-based casino company. Once complete, the merger will give Golden Gaming control of a casino in Maryland and transform it into a publicly traded company called Golden Entertainment.
When the merger plans were announced in January, Golden Gaming said it would pay $9.57 per share of Lakes — a premium of about 37 percent. Golden Gaming is also set to receive about 7.8 million shares of Lake stock, or about 35.7 percent of the post-merger shares. Current Lakes shareholders will hold on to the remaining stock.
Golden Gaming CEO Blake Sartini will stay on as head of the merged company, which will be headquartered in Las Vegas. He told the board today that it was an easy decision to join the two entities.
“It was not hard to get my head around the prospect of putting these two companies together,” he said.
Sartini said Lakes had a strong balance sheet, and its Rocky Gap casino in Maryland will fit nicely alongside Golden Gaming’s current properties.
Beyond its dozens of taverns in Nevada under the PT’s, Sierra Gold and Sean Patrick’s brands, Golden Gaming runs three casinos in Pahrump. The company also is the state’s largest slot route operator, with thousands of machines in hundreds of locations across the state (mainly bars, grocery stores and similar spots).
The board unanimously approved the merger. Chairman A.G. Burnett said he’s been receptive to the merger since Sartini first mentioned it to him several months ago.
“I thought it was an exciting time for your company at that time, and I do now,” Burnett said.
The Lakes merger continues what has been a period of significant growth for Golden Gaming in recent years. In 2012, the company acquired a slot machine route and two casinos from Affinity Gaming. On a smaller scale, the company’s tavern business expanded last year when it bought four Irish-themed taverns to establish its Sean Patrick’s brand.
And the growth isn’t over. Golden Gaming has plans to enter the Montana slot machine business, and Startini indicated that he’s open to other expansion opportunities in Nevada and other states.
The company has come a long way since it was founded by the Sartini family in 2001.
“I never anticipated anything other than going to work every day and doing what we do. As we got larger and became more diverse, more successful, opportunities presented themselves,” Sartini said in an interview after the board meeting. “This opportunity, amongst many others that we had looked at, came across my desk. And we really began to research and look at it, and very quickly realized that it was a very good match for us.”
The merger was already approved by gaming regulators in Maryland as well as Lakes shareholders. In Nevada, it now heads to the state Gaming Commission for final approval.