Any interest stirred up by CEO Tilman Fertitta‘s buyout offer for Landry’s Restaurants (owners of the Vegas and Laughlin Golden Nuggets) appears to be cooling. Given all the time and heavy investment Fertitta has put into the downtown Nugget, it would be surprising if he spun it or its downstate sister off.
And the scenario, floated by some, of a casino giant swooping into to buy the whole Landry’s kit ‘n kaboodle seems equally improbable, seeing as the buyer would inherit “a motley crew of properties,” including amusement parks, hotels and an extraordinary plethora of restaurant brands. Maybe Fertitta just wants to emulate city slicker cousins Frank and Lorenzo, figuring that if they can go private, so can he. (That’s a joke … I think.)
Any casino operator that did bid on Landry’s in order to mine the Nuggets would find itself spending a lot of time and money divesting itself of the “non-core assets.” It would be like scraping barnacles off a whale … except that we’re talking about, oh, maybe 90% barnacles to 10% whale.
While I can’t see the Terry Lannis of this world wanting to preside over a chain of Salt Grass steakhouses, stranger things have happened. And we’ve seen just how desperate non-Vegas investors can get when a Vegas casino is suddenly up for grabs.
Does Tilman know this? If you look closely (and you may need a magnifying glass) at the logo for the new Gold Digggers nightclub at the downtown Nugget, you’ll see a conjoined male/female symbol. A friend with years of experience in the gay-bar scene informs me that this is visual code for a gay hangout. Time to spin some Donna Summer platters, dig out the leather jacket and let the good times roll!
