Offically, Landry's acquired all of the shares of Poster Financial Group Inc., the owner of the casinos, from PFG's sole stockholder, PB Gaming. The debt Landry's assumed as part of the deal includes $155 million of senior secured notes due 2011, PFG's outstanding credit facility and certain working capital liabilities. The purchase is Landry's first foray into gaming.

The 1,907-room Golden Nugget Las Vegas casino, the centerpiece of Downtown Las Vegas, saw $35 million in upgrades and room renovations in 2003. It has about 40,000 sf of gaming area, a 400-seat showroom and 30,000 sf of meeting and banquet facilities. Landry's says it plans to add two of its restaurant concepts to the property: Vic and Anthony's, a steakhouse, and Grotto, a trattoria-style Italian restaurant.

The 300-room Golden Nugget Laughlin sits on 13 acres with 600 feet of Colorado River frontage near the center of the city's tourist strip. It has a 32,000 sf of gaming area and numerous restaurants and bars. Landry's says it plans to add a second hotel tower as well as two Landry's restaurant concepts, Joe's Crab Shack and Saltgrass Steak House.

Landry's operates 28 different restaurant brands and is the nation's second-largest developer of aquariums. PB Gaming is owned by Timothy Poster and Thomas Breitling, the entrepreneurs who founded the revolutionary travel website Travelscape.com and later sold it to Expedia. They purchase the two casinos in June 2003 for $215 million and then later took part in the Fox reality television show, "the Casino," which was short lived.

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GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Landry's Closes $320M Nugget Deal

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