Golden Entertainment reaches $850m deal to buy ACEP casinos

Las Vegas’ iconic Stratosphere Casino is under new management as part of the $850m sale of American Casino & Entertainment Properties (ACEP) to Golden Entertainment.

On Monday, gaming operator Golden Entertainment announced it would pay $781m in cash plus 4m shares of Golden stock to acquire ACEP, which owns the Stratosphere and three other Nevada gaming properties – Arizona Charlie’s Decatur, Arizona Charlie’s Boulder and the Aquarius Casino Resort in Laughlin.

The deal, which the participants expect to conclude later this year, will significantly expand Golden’s operations, which currently include the PT’s Pub chain of taverns in Nevada, three brick-and-mortar Nevada casinos, plus Maryland’s Rocky Gap Resort and the Golden Route Operations, which controls 10,500 slot machines at nearly 1000 small venues in Nevada and Montana.

Golden says ACEP is on target to generate revenue of $413m and earnings of $103m this year, and Golden expects the deal will be immediately accretive to its operating results. Golden also says it expects to achieve around $18m in annual synergies once it seals the deal.