Shares of Golden Entertainment tumble 9 percent
Shares of Golden Entertainment tumbled the most in more than a year on Wednesday after the company announced owners would sell about a quarter of the company’s stock in the market.
The shares fell $2.89, or 9.1 percent, to close at $28.81 on Wednesday, valuing the company at about $750 million.
The casino operator announced Tuesday after the market closed that several owners planned to sell 6.5 million shares. In connection with that sale, Golden Entertainment said it would offer up to 975,000 new shares to raise money for corporate purposes.
The offering could raise as much as $200 million for the owners and $30 million for the company.
The sale announcement comes after shares of Golden Entertainment, operator of the PT’s tavern chain and slot routes, skyrocketed last year from $11 to as high as $34 as the company acquired American Casino & Entertainment Properties and expanded its chain and route business.
Golden Entertainment bought American Casino & Entertainment from Whitehall Street Real Estate Partners for $781 million in cash plus 4 million shares. Whitehall owned four casinos, including the Stratosphere, the tallest building in Las Vegas.
Whitehall may sell all of its shares in the offering, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission document dated Jan 10. The Blake L. Sartini and Delise F. Sartini Family Trust may sell up to 1.25 million shares. The Sartini fund would still own about 22 percent of the company after the sale.
Blake Sartini is chief executive officer of Golden Entertainment.
Contact Todd Prince at tprince@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0386. Follow @toddprincetv on Twitter.
