Golden Entertainment sells Montana video terminal operations

Golden Entertainment has completed the previously announced sale of its Montana video lottery terminal operations to J&J Ventures Gaming.

The $114m deal, first announced in March, comprises Golden Entertainment’s Distributed Gaming Operations throughout the state. These include its video gaming terminals, which it historically operated at over 1,000 locations in Nevada and Montana.

For its video terminal business in Montana, Golden received an aggregate cash consideration of $109m, as well as $5m in purchased cash, for a $114m total.

As part of the deal, J&J also agreed to supply the video terminals to Golden Entertainment’s taverns in Nevada for a five-year period.

In addition, Golden Entertainment agreed to sell its Nevada video terminal operations to J&J for $247.5m. According to the operator, this deal remains pending.

This recent bout of M&A builds on top of last year’s activity. In August 2022, Golden Entertainment agreed to sell the land and buildings of its Rocky Gap Casino Resort in Maryland to real estate investment trust Vici Properties for $203.9m. This deal was completed in July 2023.

In addition, it sold the casino’s operating assets to Century Casinos for $56.1m, for a total deal worth $260m.

Will Golden Entertainment engage in further M&A?

In its Q2 financial report, chief financial officer Charles Protell said the business might consider acquiring new businesses with its new resources.

He said targets would need to be in the west and be casinos of a meaningful size that could create synergies with its existing portfolio.

While Protell admitted this is a “fairly narrow lens” to look at acquisitions, he said any deal would be weighed against just buying Golden Entertainment stock.

Original Article