Station Casinos Accepts Management-Led $5.5 Billion Buyout Offer

The board of Las Vegas-based Station Casinos Inc. voted this weekend to accept the $5.5 billion revised buyout offer from Fertitta Colony Partners LLC, a group led by the company's founding family, and real estate company Colony Capital LLC. The group will pay $90 per share, up from its December offer of $82. The raised bid represents a 30% premium over the shares' close on December 1, prior to the disclosure of the original bid. The group will also take on approximately $3.4 billion in debt, bringing the total value of the deal to about $8.9 billion. Fertitta Colony Partners consists of Station's chairman and CEO Frank Fertitta III and his brother, sister and brother-in-law, the four of whom collectively own about about 27% of the company's outstanding shares. Station runs 16 casinos that are oriented toward the local Las Vegas market rather than toward the tourist trade. The company also owns large tracts of undeveloped land in the Las Vegas Valley. The deal is expected to close in six to nine months.

Sources: Wall Street Journal, TheStreet.com, Reuters
Commentary: Station Casinos: Investment Group Urges Rejection Of Buyout Offer • Fertitta Brothers to Take Station Casinos Private • A Quick Guide to the Major Gambling Stocks
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Station Casinos, Inc. (STN). Competitors: Harrah's Entertainment Inc. (HET), MGM Mirage (MGM). ETFs: PowerShares Dynamic Leisure & Entertainment (PEJ)

Seeking Alpha's news briefs are combined into a pre-market summary called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.