PT's Pubs Owner Buying Stratosphere, Three Other Casinos

The company that owns the PT's Pubs chain is buying the company that owns the Stratosphere Casino Hotel & Tower and three other casinos. The company, Golden Entertainment, is paying $850 million to take control of the iconic tower.

In addition to the Stratosphere, Golden is paying American Casino & Entertainment Properties for Arizona Charlie's Hotel and Casino - Boulder and Arizona Charlie's Hotel & Casino - Decatur - both in Las Vegas - and The Aquarius Casino Resort in Laughlin.

While Golden is known mostly for the PT's chain - more than 50 taverns around southern Nevada, they already own Rocky Gap Casino Resort inside Rocky Gap State Park, near Cumberland, Maryland and the Pahrump Nugget, Lakeside and Gold Town in Pahrump.

The company also operates locations in Nevada and Montana with a combined more than 12,000 slot machines. (Subscribe to local news alerts on Patch).

"This is a transformational event for our company, creating a significant gaming portfolio centered around Nevada-based casinos that," said Blake L. Sartini, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Golden. "We believe the American properties are poised to benefit tremendously from anticipated continued economic growth in Nevada, particularly from the continued strength in the Las Vegas market."

The hallmark of this deal is the Stratosphere, the 21-year-old, 1,149-foot high tower that stands just off the strip. It has 13 restaurants, nearly 2,500 guest rooms and suites, nine bars, two pools, and an 80,000 square foot casino with 743 slot machines and 42 game tables.

It famously went bankrupt six months after opening and is the tallest freestanding observation tower in the United States.

Charles Protell, Golden's chief financial officer, says the purchase is going to position them to continue their expansion.

"We intend to continue to invest in the expansion of our industry leading distributed gaming business including our planned tavern developments in Las Vegas as well as our pursuit of potential distributed gaming operations in new jurisdictions," he said.

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