Century Casinos first announced plans to acquire the Nugget Casino Resort in Sparks, Nevada for $195 million back on February 23, but as of now there is no timeline to finalize the deal. Once it is completed, the company does not plan to do much in terms of renovation, according to co-CEO Peter Hoetzinger.
On Century’s recent third-quarter earnings call, Hoetzinger said that because the property is “an existing operation with a long operating history,” the company does not “expect any extraordinary replacement for the first year.”
The 1,382-room casino-resort currently features 75,000 square feet of gaming space. Prior to the recent sale, it was the only casino operated by outgoing owners Marnell Gaming.
However, the co-CEO did note that there would be some slight changes and upgrades, including a few new slots and an integration into Century’s system of loyalty rewards.
Once finalized, the Nugget is slated to become the flagship casino in Century’s portfolio—the company operates five regional U.S. casinos across Missouri, Colorado and West Virginia, and is in the process of acquiring the operations of Maryland’s Rocky Gap Casino for $260 million from Golden Entertainment.
It also owns casinos in Canada and Poland, but Hoetzinger confirmed that the company will offload its European holdings to focus solely on the North American market.
In a previous conversation back in August with the Nevada Independent, Century’s Executive Vice President Andreas Terler said that Nevada was always the dream destination for Century—”If you’re a gaming company, wouldn’t you want to be in Nevada?” he posited.
For the quarter ending September 30, Century posted $112.6 million in operating revenue with $20 million in cash flow, which is a decrease of 4 percent and 22 percent from last year, respectively.
