Century Casinos completes acquisition of 50% stake in Nugget Casino property

Under the deal, which was announced last month, Century paid $95.0m (£72.4m/€86.0m) to purchase a 50% stake in both the property and the operating company from Marnell Gaming. While the deal to acquire a 50% stake in the property has closed, the operations deal will take more time.

PropCo, which owns the land and building underlying the Nugget Casino Resort, has in place a lease with Nugget Sparks (OpCo) which operates the Nugget Casino Resort for an annual rent of $15.0m. 

Century said it would receive $1.9m per quarter, before any expenses, for its share of the rent from OpCo.

Located in Sparks, Nevada, Nugget Casino Resort is full-service resort with a gaming floor featuring 50,200sq ft of casino space, 859 slot machines and 29 table games. 

The resort also includes two hotel towers, 110,000sq ft of convention space, a 8,555-seat amphitheatre, a number of casual and fine dining options, on-site bars and lounges, and a five-story 1,200 space parking garage. 

The acquisition expands Century’s North American portfolio to 10 casinos with 6,700 gaming machines and 140 table games.

Alongside the acquisition of PropCop, Century last month also entered into a membership interest purchase agreement to purchase PropCo’s membership interests and 100% of the membership interests in OpCo for an additional $100.0m. 

This, Century said, is expected to occur within one year, subject to approval by the Nevada Gaming Commission.

Following this acquisition, Century would own the operating assets of the Nugget Casino Resort and 50% of the membership interests in PropCo. In addition, Century would have a five-year option to acquire the remaining 50% of the membership interests in PropCo for $105.0m plus 2% per annum.

Century financed the PropCo acquisition with a new credit facility issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA.