Las Vegas-based Golden Entertainment Inc. announced today that it has moved to acquire its second line of gambling devices in Montana for about $25 million, a transaction that the company said will make it among the largest distributed gaming operators in the country.
Golden Entertainment said it will buy the devices from Amusement Services LLC, which operates upward of 1,800 gambling machines in some 180 retail spots across Montana. The transaction follows Golden Entertainment’s entrance into the Montana market earlier this year with a $20 million purchase of some 1,000 devices.
The most recent transaction further bolsters the company’s distributed gaming business, which is already huge in Nevada. Golden Entertainment is already the dominant distributed gaming operator in Nevada, with thousands of slot machines at grocery stores and other locations.
The company indicated today that once the latest Montana acquisition is complete, it will operate more than 12,000 machines in total. Golden Entertainment said it will be the second-largest distributed gaming operator in Montana and one of the largest such operators in the United States .
Aside from its big distributed gaming business, Golden Entertainment also owns three casinos in Pahrump, a casino in Maryland and a large chain of Nevada taverns under brands including PT’s, Sierra Gold and Sean Patrick’s. The company became publicly traded after its predecessor, Golden Gaming, merged with Lakes Entertainment last year.
CEO Blake Sartini said in a statement today that his company has continued to show its “ability to build and strengthen leadership positions in key attractive markets.” He called Montana an “attractive distributed gaming market” and said Golden Entertainment was well positioned to capitalize on that with a greater presence in the state.
Golden Entertainment plans to fund the latest acquisition with available borrowings from its revolving credit facility, according to the company statement. The deal is expected to close by the end of the month.
Once the transaction is complete, Tim Carson, co-founder and president of Amusement Services, will join Golden Entertainment as vice president of Montana operations, the company said.