Century Casinos has noted that it anticipates closing its acquisition of Nugget Casino Resort next month once the purchase has been approved by the Nevada Gaming Commission.
Speaking on the operator’s earnings call, Co-CEO Peter Hoetzinger stated that the company has recently received approval from the Nevada Gaming Control Board for the casino acquisition in Reno, Nevada.
Hoetzinger added that Century Casinos is meeting with the Silver State’s Gaming Commission on 23 March and, if the $195m purchase is given the go-ahead, it is expected to be completed during the first week of April.
The Co-CEO told investors: “Our application must still be approved by the Gaming Commission in Nevada at its meeting on March 23. If approved, we plan to close the market acquisition in the first week of April, less than 4 weeks from today.
“We are finalizing our plans for initial investments and upgrades, and I’m more excited than ever about the potential for improvements.”
Hoetzinger also said that once the transaction is completed, Century Casinos’ “immediate focus will be on the gaming floor as well as on raising the potential for synergy effects across all operations departments”.
The Nugget Casino Resort currently has 892 slot machines, 29 table games, and 1,382 hotel rooms. The operator doesn’t expect any operational disruption to occur in the second quarter while improvements take place.
Century Casinos only expects disruptions should they decide to make changes to the floor layout, but it is only in the planning stage of those potential changes, and even then, disruptions are only expected to be minimal.
The operator also anticipates closing the acquisition for the Rocky Gap Casino Resorts operations in Maryland by June or July.
Century Casinos added that it wants to continue to be active in the M&A market once the Rocky acquisition closes in the summertime, but it is also exploring the possibility of deleveraging and giving a little back to its shareholders.
