The special purpose acquisition company working to acquire Golden Nugget’s online business has received approval in New Jersey.
Landcadia Holdings II, the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that is working to acquire Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG), has received regulatory approval for the deal in the state of New Jersey.
This comes after it was announced that the SPAC would purchase Golden Nugget’s online gambling division to take it public on the Nasdaq exchange earlier this year.
Landcadia Holdings II receives approval
The New Jersey Casino Control Commission awarded GNOG an online casino licence at its latest meeting. This means that GNOG is approved as a separate entity to Golden Nugget’s land-based casino operation.
This latest development takes Landcadia Holdings II, one step close to completing its deal to acquire GNOG, with shares in the combined business to be traded on the stock exchange.
Tilman J. Fertitta, Co-Chairman and CEO of Landcadia II said: “We are appreciative of the efforts of both the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement and the Casino Control Commission in approving our transaction.”
Landcadia II’s General Counsel, Steven L. Scheinthal said: “With this regulatory approval, we are one step closer to completing our acquisition of GNOG. We are now waiting on the SEC to approve our definitive proxy statement for mailing to our stockholders and approval from our stockholders of the transaction, which we hope will happen in the near future.”
Going public
Announced in June of this year, the combined GNOG and Landcadia II business was valued at $745m. Upon completion, it will become one of the first online gambling businesses to be listed on the Nasdaq.
Landcadia II is a blank check company that was established to help Golden Nugget secure its public listing and was created through a joint venture between Fertitta and the investment bank Jeffries LLC.
Once the deal is complete, Fertitta will act as the co-chair and CEO of the new business entity while Thomas Winter will remain GNOG president.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2020 and values GNOG at approximately $745m or 6.1x its projected 2021 revenue which is $122m.
Another move for Golden Nugget
Following the announcement of the merger with Landcadia II, Golden Nugget has been hard at work expanding its presence across legal US markets.
Earlier this week, GNOG secured market access for online sports betting and casinos in the state of West Virginia via a deal with Greenbrier Hotel Corporation. This marked the fifth state in which Golden Nugget secured access to.
Last week, the casino operator inked an agreement to enter the Illinois sports betting market via an agreement with Danville Development, a joint venture between Wilmot Gaming Illinois, a subsidiary of New York-based real estate developer Wilmorite Management Group, and GN Danville, a subsidiary of Golden Nugget.
The deal will see Danville Development construct a new Golden Nugget casino venue in the state of Illinois.
In July, GNOG also secured entry into Michigan’s online casino and sports betting market via a market access deal with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, operator of Ojibwa Casino.
