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Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta – owner of an empire of restaurants and restaurants, Houston Rockets and a new high-rise hotel next to his West Loop headquarters – has approached the company's Caesars Entertainment Corp. Games of Las Vegas about a possible merger with its Golden Nugget chain of casinos and group of restaurants, according to sources close to the project.
According to sources, the proposed deal would make Fertitta, president of Galveston, president and CEO of Caesars, which operates 55 casinos and hotels, including brands such as Caesars Palace, Harrah's, Flamingo and Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino. Caesars has most of its real estate in the United States, but the company also has properties in Africa, Europe and South America.
According to the proposal, Caesars would partner with Golden Nugget LLC, a private company in Fertitta, including its wide selection of restaurants, such as Landry. Golden Nugget is rated about $ 3 billion, according to sources.
According to Bloomberg data, Fertitta's business last year reached $ 3.5 billion in revenue and nearly $ 4.3 billion in debt.
Feritta's proposal comes one year after the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection of Caesars, the largest gaming operator in the United States. The agreement would allow Fertitta to run a leading gaming company while installing Landry's and its other restaurants on Caesars' properties. Fertitta and Caesars declined to comment.
If the agreement passes, he would be the latest in a series of mergers and acquisitions in the US gaming sector, as companies seek to consolidate their operations in the face of increased competition from new online casinos and gambling.
Earlier this week, Penn National Gaming of Pennsylvania closed its $ 2.8 billion acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment in Las Vegas, creating the country's second largest video game company, based on the number of properties, 40.
"Companies are trying to become more profitable by acquiring more properties and cutting costs," said David Schwartz, director of the Gambling Research Center at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.
The merger of Caesars and Golden Nugget would give the merged company a complementary combination of large and medium casinos in the US and dozens of new locations for Landry, said the researcher.
"This is a big expansion for Landry," said Schwartz. "Caesars has a significant amount of real estate."
The possible operation was reported for the first time by Reuters.
Fertitta, whose estimated net worth to Forbes is $ 4.5 billion, has built its fortunes in the foodservice sector using brands such as Landry's Seafood, McCormick & Schmick's, Morton's The Steakhouse, Mastro's and Rainforest. Coffee. He made his debut in the early 1980s, opened his business in 1993 and grew through acquisitions.
He purchased the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas in 2005, then acquired and built other casinos in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In 2010, he again deprived the company.
Last year, he bought the Houston Rockets for a record $ 2.2 billion in NBA and recently completed the construction of a hotel and conference center high in the United States. range called The Post Oak Hotel, next to its head office located along the West Loop, near Post Oak Boulevard. The company is in payment dispute with general contractors who have worked on Golden Nugget Lake Charles and The Post Oak. He also plays on CNBC's "Billion Dollar Buyer" reality show.
In addition to its hotels and casinos, Caesars operates over 300 restaurants, 1.5 million square feet of meeting space and more than 200 nightclubs. Celine Dion, Gwen Stefani and the Backstreet Boys are among the star performers in Las Vegas.
Caesars is present in 13 states: Arizona, California, Nevada, New Jersey, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. Golden Nugget operates in three countries: Nevada, Louisiana and New Jersey.
In certain markets, the combined company may sell or close certain sites. because of the overlap, Schwartz said. For example, Atlantic City, N.J., has a Golden Nugget property and three Caesars properties.
"It could be a concern," said Schwartz. "I think they should sell a little bit."
Although real estate attracts a lot Landry, it is the same for the loyalty program of Caesars, which he has operated for two decades. Caesars uses Total Rewards, a player club card that gives loyal customers points and rewards for gambling, dining, and spending money on their properties in exchange for free hotel nights, show tickets and more. of a meal.
Caesars' Total Rewards has a database of 55 million members, worth $ 1 billion, according to the bankruptcy of the company deposit. It is an important marketing tool for Landry, which also manages several loyalty programs, including the Landry's Select Club for its restaurants and the 24K Select Club for its Golden Nugget casinos.
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