Mesquite
Mesquite gaming icon Randy Black makes no bones about telling his new casino partners that he plans to buy them out some day.
Black, chief operating officer of the new Mesquite Gaming LLC, and those partners today won unanimous approval of the Nevada Gaming Commission for licensing of Mesquite's CasaBlanca, Virgin River and Oasis resort properties.
Black has been the longtime face of the Mesquite properties 85 miles north of Las Vegas on Interstate 15 at the Arizona border. But in appearances before the commission and the state Gaming Control Board on July 13, Black said his long-range plan is to regain full control of the company by buying out the companies that have helped restructure the company when it fell into bankruptcy.
Investment company Newport Global Advisors LP of The Woodlands, Texas, would hold 40 percent of the company, Black business partner Anthony Toti, who serves as CEO of the new company, would own 25 percent, and the family of Michael Gaughan, who the South Point, would own 25 percent and operate the Mesquite casinos sports books. Black will have a 10 percent stake.
The commission approved the licensing of five board managers for Mesquite Gaming, including Black, Toti, Timothy T. Janszen and Ryan L. Langdon for Newport Global and Katherine Banuelos for the Gaughan family.
Newport Global Advisors specializes in investments in distressed properties and made contact with Black two years ago when he and his company encountered recession-related financial difficulty.
Black Gaming filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2010 and the court confirmed the plan four months later in July.
Under terms of the bankruptcy plan, a loan from Wells Fargo Bank was paid off and other creditors lost half of their investments, as company debt was trimmed from $125 million to $62.5 million.
Toti told the commission that the new company would continue its current business strategy as a getaway for Las Vegas and Utah residents with an emphasis on the city's golf courses and outdoor recreation. He said hotel rooms have been upgraded and the company would focus on direct marketing to 120,000 customers in its database.
Toti, a former executive with Coast Resorts, which once operated the Gold Coast and the Strip's Barbary Coast , now Bill's Gamblin' Hall, said he plans to build visits to the casinos around the many special events that are scheduled in Mesquite.
Asked what the company intends to do with the shuttered Oasis property, Toti said that will depend on what the economy does in the months ahead. He said if it improves dramatically, the company could refurbish and reopen the Oasis. Until then, he said the company would continue to use it for occasional guest overflow and to maintain a handful of timeshare units on the property.
Earlier plans to demolish the Oasis were scrapped because of the expense.
Black said he will continue to create his company's television commercials and in which he touts his properties with the tagline "It's Mesquite."
In other business, during a routine application on a shelf offering for MGM Resorts International, gaming attorney Robert Faiss and commissioners paid tribute to former company CEO Terry Lanni, who died of cancer on July 14.
The commission also approved several licenses involving operators of downtown Las Vegas properties:
— IKE Gaming Inc. owner Irving Epstein transferred two 3.3 percent stakes in the El Cortez to daughters Alexandra Epstein and Katie Epstein.
— Golden Gate operator Derek Stevens won the recommendation of the board for licensure as a director for Riviera Holdings Corp., operator of the Riviera on the Strip.
— Plaza operator Santo Gaming LLC was recommended for licensing as a manager for the holding company for Reno's Grand Sierra Resort.
Officer and key executive licenses were recommended for Brian Arlin for the parent company of the Four Queens.
The commission also approved the licensing of Felix Rappaport, president and chief operating officer of the Mirage, and the licensing of J-M Squared LLC manager John-Martin Meyer to operate the Silver Saddle Saloon, which is in litigation over an ownership dispute.