Boyd to Buy North Vegas Hotel-Casino for $380M

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Aliante Casino Hotel and Spa, Las Vegas

Las Vegas—Boyd Gaming Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ALST Casino Holdco LLC, the holding company of Aliante Casino Hotel and Spa, in North Las Vegas, for total net cash consideration of $380 million, Boyd announced late last week. The upscale, resort-style casino and hotel is on the 215 Beltway within the Aliante master-planned community.

“Aliante is … strategically positioned to benefit from substantial future growth across the northern part of the Las Vegas Valley,” Keith Smith, president & CEO of Boyd Gaming, said in a prepared statement. “In addition, there are significant synergy opportunities at the property, allowing us to immediately improve its operating and financial performance.”

In a prepared statement, Aliante CEO Soohyung Kim referred to “the rebirth of Aliante Casino from a difficult restructuring to this excellent outcome for all stakeholders.”

The property, which was initially known as Aliante Station, opened in November 2008 at a cost of more than $660 million. The timing was inauspicious, however, given that Station Casinos, one of the partners in the joint venture that developed the casino-hotel, filed for bankruptcy in July 2009.

The property later came into the possession of its creditors, a group of nine banks and three private equity firms that reportedly were owed more than $378 million, versus the property’s estimated liquidation value of just $47 million to $53 million.

ALST Casino Holdco LLC was created to own the resort, with its largest shareholders being affiliates of Standard General LP (28.6 percent), Apollo Global Management (19.7 percent) and TPG Capital (19.7 percent), according to an 8-K filed in November 2011.

Aliante features an 82,000-square-foot gaming floor, more than 200 luxury hotel rooms and suites, five restaurants, a 170-seat race and sports book, a 16-screen movie theater complex, 14,000 square feet of event and banquet space, a luxury spa, and a resort-style pool and outdoor lounge area.

The transaction is expected to close during the third quarter, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Boyd intends to fund the transaction with cash on hand.

Though Aliante will be Boyd Gaming’s 10th property in southern Nevada, it will be the company’s first property in North Las Vegas.