Fertitta Entertainment Set to Go Public

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.”