Golden Entertainment, Inc. (GDEN)

Golden Entertainment, Inc. was a Las Vegas-based gaming company that owned and operated casinos and a distributed gaming business. It was formerly known as Lakes Entertainment, Inc., which was incorporated in 1998, and it adopted the Golden Entertainment name in July 2015 following its combination with Golden Gaming, the company led by Blake Sartini. Sartini served as chairman and chief executive officer, and its common stock traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol GDEN.

Golden's business was built around Nevada. It operated destination casino resorts, including properties in the Lake Tahoe region and Laughlin, as well as casinos that catered to Las Vegas area locals. It also ran a distributed gaming segment that placed slot machines and amusement devices in taverns, restaurants, bars, and convenience and grocery stores, and it owned and operated a chain of gaming taverns. At the time of the transaction the company described a portfolio of eight casinos and 73 gaming taverns in Nevada, with about 5,500 slots, 80 table games, and 6,000 hotel rooms.

Through the early 2020s the company also owned a casino resort in Maryland and operated tavern and route operations, and it was a regular participant in Nevada's locals gaming market. Its capital structure, combined with real estate holdings that represented a large share of its enterprise value, made it a candidate for a sale-leaseback or real estate transaction.

The transaction that ended Golden's public listing was a two-part arrangement. VICI Properties, a real estate investment trust listed on the New York Stock Exchange, agreed to acquire the real estate of seven of Golden's casino resorts. Entities controlled by Blake Sartini agreed to enter into a triple-net master lease on those properties and to continue the casino operations as a private company.

Under the terms, each Golden shareholder received a cash dividend of $2.75 and 0.902 shares of VICI Properties common stock for each Golden share. Press coverage placed the overall transaction value at about $1.2 billion. Golden shareholders approved the transaction at a meeting around March 31, 2026.

The transaction closed on April 30, 2026. In announcing the completion, Golden Entertainment said that it had successfully completed its transition to a private, family-owned operation and would continue to operate its full portfolio of casinos and taverns.

A Form 25 was filed on April 30, 2026, removing the common stock from Nasdaq. Former shareholders who wish to follow their investment now hold shares of VICI Properties, which trades on the NYSE under the symbol VICI.