A company owned by Texas billionaire and restaurant tycoon Tilman Fertitta has bought Wildwood Casino and Hotel in Cripple Creek in a deal that was finalized late last week.
Fertitta Entertainment, which owns Golden Nugget casinos in Las Vegas and four other locations, intends to further Cripple Creek’s appeal as a gambling destination by acquiring the recently constructed 101-room hotel, which includes three restaurants and cafes, as well as the casino; with 538 slot machines and 12 tables for poker, blackjack, craps, roulette and baccarat, Wildwood is the largest of any single casino in Cripple Creek, according to the state’s Division of Gaming.
“Located just 45 miles from Colorado Springs, Cripple Creek has grown significantly over the years attracting visitors from across the country,” Gerry Del Prete, chief operating officer of gaming for Fertitta Entertainment, said in a news release. “We are thrilled to join this community and look forward to enhancing the property and bringing our brands to this new destination city.”
According to documents the company filed last year with the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a plan to become a publicly traded company, Fertitta Entertainment was to pay $43 million to acquire Wildwood. The plan to go public was abandoned, but the deal to acquire the Cripple Creek casino was finalized Dec. 1. A representative of Fertitta Entertainment, said that amount was inaccurate but would not disclose the cost of the acquisition.
American Gaming Group had owned Wildwood since it opened in 2008 and spent $14 million to build the 101-room hotel adjacent to the casino, the Gazette previously reported.
Wildwood Casino will be rebranded as the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in an expansion of Fertitta’s brand. Gosslee said Fertitta Entertainment retained all of Wildwood’s employees, which number 300, according to the Gazette’s previous report.
Fertitta Entertainment owns Golden Nugget casinos in Las Vegas; Laughlin, Nev.; Atlantic City, N.J.; Biloxi, Miss., and Lake Charles, La. The company also owns Landry’s, a chain of more than 600 restaurants operating under the Saltgrass Steak House, Joe’s Crab Shack, Houlihan’s, Chart House, Bubba Gump Shrimp and Rainforest Cafe brands.
Tilman Fertitta, who has a fortune estimated at more than $8 billion, according to Forbes, also owns the Houston Rockets professional basketball team.
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