Golden Entertainment’s chairman and CEO Blake Sartini is set to take the company private, acquiring its operating assets while the real estate of several major casinos is being sold to Vici Properties. Under the agreement announced Thursday, Sartini will buy Golden’s operations, and Vici will purchase the real estate of seven casino properties—including The Strat, both Arizona Charlie’s locations in Las Vegas, Aquarius and Edgewater in Laughlin, and the Pahrump Nugget—for $1.16 billion.
Vici will lease these properties back to Sartini under an initial annual rent of $87 million. The overall transaction is valued at $30 per share, representing a significant premium over Golden’s recent trading price. Following the announcement, Golden Entertainment’s stock surged by more than 35 percent, climbing $7.55 to $28.78 in mid-day trading.
Sartini stated that the deal “maximizes value for our shareholders by providing a significant premium to our current share price.”