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Billionaire Tilman Fertitta has decided not to take his company, Fertitta Entertainment, public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
The company announced it has decided to end its pending $8.6 billion merger with Fast Acquisition Corp. (FAST) and pay a settlement of $33 million.
Fertitta Entertainment is a holding company for Golden Nugget Casinos and Landry’s restaurants.
Keeping the company private
The merger was initially announced on Feb. 1, 2021, with Fertitta citing opportunities in the post-pandemic hospitality and online gaming sector.
However, the new Omicron Covid-19 variant has shrunk optimism that sectors, like the gaming industry, were rebounding.
In regards to the ending of the merger, Tilman Fertitta had this to say:
“I have a lot of respect for the FAST team and will them however I can as they continue to search for a merger target. At the end of the day we ultimately determined that the right decision for my company was to remain private at this time, and I look forward to continuing to grow our business both organically and in-organically.”
The deal included five US online casino platform Golden Nugget Online Gaming Inc. ($GNOG), which Fertitta owns 47 percent.
$GNOG shares were trading at $10.43 as of writing.
Future outlook
The $33 million settlement for FAST and its shareholders will be paid through upfront and deferred payments. The money will be used to cover expenses and legal fees.
$FAST shares were trading at $10.17 on Dec. 15.
Doug Jacob, Founder of FAST, stated: “FEI is an incredible hospitality empire run by the one of the world’s best operators that we have had a first-hand view into for many years now. We wish Tilman and his team the best of luck as they remain a private company. Through this settlement we ensured that we are sufficiently capitalized to seek a new target and that we could continue our efforts to maximize value for our shareholders.”
