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Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta has big plans for his hospitality empire.
Fertitta Entertainment, parent company to Golden Nugget casinos and restaurant chain operator Landry’s, is going public through a merger with a SPAC called FAST Acquisition Corp.
The new company is valued at $6.6 billion. Fertitta will be the largest stakeholder at 60%. Institutional investors — including Fidelity and BlackRock — are adding $1.2 billion for a roughly 35% stake in the business.
Fertitta Entertainment made its move to sports when Fertitta bought the Houston Rockets for $2.2 billion in 2017. Similar crossovers between sports and hospitality have been ongoing for decades.
- Now: A-Rod is a platform investor in a $650 million hospitality fund with CGI Merchant Group. Announced last year, the fund aims to acquire and build 20 hotels throughout North America and the Caribbean by 2024.
- Then: Football legend Roger Staubach founded his own real estate firm in 1977. Staubach was once the highest-earning retired NFL player because of his wide-ranging ventures.
In its history, Fertitta Entertainment has made 25 acquisitions, including six public companies, for over $3 billion.
“The consumer is coming back,” Fertitta told CNBC last week. “Where we can do business, we are doing business.”
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