Regulators OK Boyd’s acquisition of Canneries

By Thomas Moore

Monday, Dec. 19, 2016 | 11:12 a.m.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board and Gaming Commission unanimously approved Boyd Gaming’s purchase of the Cannery casinos on Monday morning.

The $230 million deal with Cannery Casino Resorts LLC includes the Eastside Cannery on Boulder Highway, near Sam’s Town, also a Boyd property, and the Cannery casino in North Las Vegas. Cannery Casino Resorts LLC is jointly owned by Millennium Gaming and Oaktree Capital Management and Crown Resorts Limited.

The meetings were both special sessions held at the request of Boyd so the deal could be completed before the holidays.

Keith Smith, president and CEO of Boyd, said the two properties will allow his company to take advantage of growth in the Las Vegas Valley.

“We are buying into a growing market,” Smith said. “In the northern part of Las Vegas, there is a tremendous amount of housing going in as well as warehousing. It’s very much a growing part of town in addition to the general economic recovery going on in town.”

In April, Boyd announced it was buying both the Cannery and the Eastside Cannery shortly after it announced it would buy Aliante Station from a group of banks and private equity companies. The Aliante purchase was completed in September.

Smith said the purchase makes economic sense for the company.

“We are a larger company than Cannery Resorts, we can buy things cheaper and we can offer customers other opportunities throughout the valley,” Smith said. “And at the Eastside Cannery is literally next door to Sam’s Town, and we can take advantage of that synergy.”

Initially, Smith said, all the employees and executives will keep their jobs. However, Boyd will be reviewing how each property functions, and Smith said he “can’t speak to what will happen three to six months down the road.”

In addition, Smith said Boyd expects to make $30 million in EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) in its first year of operating the two resorts.

Also during the hearings, the board approved the deregistration of Crown Resorts as a gaming company. The move had nothing to do with Crown’s recent pull-out from the Alon.

Rather, Crown owned an interest in Cannery, LLC., and will be bought out as part of this purchase. However, the deregistration does mean Crown is no longer gaming licensee in Nevada.