Ten months after acquiring Golden Entertainment’s distributed gaming operations in Nevada, Illinois-based J&J Gaming is about to acquire 10 slot-only operations in northern evada, mostly along I-80.
J&J, through its Golden Route Operations namesake, is on tap to acquire Reno-based Leisure Gaming.
The deal will close sometime after the Nevada Gaming Commission signs off at its Nov. 21 meeting. The Nevada Gaming Control Board recommended approval on Wednesday. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Jamal Goodrich, legal counsel for J&J, told the Control Board that the acquisition is “a natural extension of our existing business.”
Leisure Gaming launched in 1993 with the opening of its first property, the Pilot Casino in Fernley with 30 slot machines. Since then, Leisure has added nine casinos and currently with a total of more than 640 slot machines.
Besides the Fernley Pilot, the other nine are the Winnemucca Pilot and Roadhouse, Carlin Pilot, Elko Roadhouse, Wendover Pilot, Lucky’s in Ely, Wells, and Fernley’s, and USA Parkway Lucky’s on I-80 inside the One9 Travel Center.
Leisure Gaming will be merged into the Golden Route operations with its 70 employees. All of those who want to remain will be retained, Goodrich said.
Ryan Albright, partner and vice president of operations for Leisure Gaming, said they’ve added four locations in the last three years.
“This pending transaction is bittersweet. We feel that we’re leaving the company in good hands. We’ve been working on this for a year and a half. Trying to sell your business is about as nerve wracking as you get. The whole crew at J&J and Golden have been open, honest, and straightforward with us. It made this difficult process a lot easier to work through. They’re keeping our employees, and that was tremendously important to me.”
Board Chair Kirk Hendrick called Leisure Gaming “another great American success story.”
Board member George Assad said it should be looked at “as raising a child from birth and nurturing them before going to college and setting them free.”
J&J Gaming considers itself the national leader in the installation and operation of regulated gaming devices in restaurants, bars, taverns, gaming parlors, convenience stores, truck stops, and other authorized venues.
In January, J&J Gaming acquired Golden Entertainment’s Nevada distributed gaming operations for $213.5 million in cash, plus $37.5 million in purchased cash. In Montana, Golden Entertainment sold its distributed gaming operations there to an affiliate of J&J Gaming in September 2023 for $109 million plus $5 million in purchased cash.
J&J and its affiliates have 11,600 gaming terminals in more than 1,000 locations. On a combined basis, J&J Gaming, along with its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides gaming as a service to 3,600 locations in various regulated jurisdictions.
Illinois-based J&J Gaming is privately held, with Los Angeles-based private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management its majority owner. Oaktree acquired the Casablanca Resort and Virgin River Hotel & Casino in Mesquite in late 2023.
