Affinity Interactive

Affinity Interactive, formerly known as Herbst Gaming and Affinity Gaming, is an American private casino and sports betting company based in Paradise, Nevada. It operates eight casinos in Nevada, Missouri, and Iowa, and publishes the Daily Racing Form.

Affinity Interactive
Formerly
  • Herbst Gaming (1987–2011)
  • Affinity Gaming (2011–2021)
TypePrivate
IndustryGambling
Founded1987
HeadquartersParadise, Nevada
Key people
Mary Beth Higgins (CEO)
OwnerZ Capital Partners
Websiteaffinityinteractive.com

History
The old logo of Herbst Gaming

The company traces its roots to 1987, when its predecessor was formed to service the slot machines at the Terrible Herbst gas stations.[1][2] It was operated by brothers Ed, Tim, and Troy Herbst, whose father, Jerry Herbst, owned the gas stations.[2][3] Their company later became a slot route operator, maintaining slot machines at other businesses such as taverns and laundromats.[4]

The Herbsts opened their first casino, the Terrible's Town Casino in Pahrump, Nevada, in 1996.[5] This was followed by Terrible's Town Casino and Bowl in Henderson, Nevada;[6][7] Terrible's Lakeside Casino in Pahrump in 1999;[8][9] and Terrible's Hotel and Casino (formerly the Continental Hotel and Casino) in 2000 near the Las Vegas Strip.[10]

In 2000, the Herbsts' slot company, E-T-T Inc., doubled its size by acquiring the slot route operation of Jackpot Enterprises for $41 million, bringing it to a total of 6,000 machines under management.[11][12]

In 2001, the Herbst brothers' gaming interests were reorganized as Herbst Gaming, Inc., in connection with a $170-million bond offering.[13]

The company opened its fifth casino, Terrible's Searchlight Casino in Searchlight, Nevada, in 2002.[14]

In 2003, Herbst became the largest slot route operator in Nevada by acquiring Anchor Coin and its 1,100 machines from International Game Technology for $61 million.[15][16]

In 2005, Herbst expanded to the Midwest by acquiring three casinos in Missouri and Iowa from W.M. Grace Entertainment for $287 million.[17][18]

In 2006, a statewide smoking ban was enacted in Nevada at taverns and convenience stores, which was expected to hurt the revenues of slot route operators such as Herbst.[19][20] In response, the company began to diversify by acquiring more casinos.[21] In January 2007, Herbst purchased Sands Regent, a company with four Northern Nevada casinos, including the Sands Regency and the Rail City Casino, for $119 million.[22][23] Later that year, it also acquired the Primm Valley Casino Resorts, a group of three casinos at the Nevada–California state line, from MGM Mirage for $400 million.[24]

In early 2008, the company revealed that it was considering a sale or bankruptcy, because of poor financial results stemming from the economic slowdown and the smoking ban.[25][26] Analysts said that the company was also suffering from having overpaid for the Primm casinos, which faced increasing competition from expanding tribal casinos in Southern California.[26]

Herbst Gaming filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March 2009 with a prepackaged plan to hand ownership of the casinos to the company's bank lenders, while the Herbst family would receive a 90 percent stake in the slot route business.[27] After objections from bondholders, the plan was revised to give full ownership of the slot route operation to the creditors, leaving the Herbsts with no role in the business.[28] The company, reorganized as Herbst Gaming LLC, emerged from bankruptcy at the end of 2010, owned by a group of approximately 140 investment companies and banks.[29][30][31]

Golden Gates Casino, acquired by Affinity Gaming in 2012

The company changed its name to Affinity Gaming in May 2011, to avoid confusion as the Herbst family planned to rejoin the gaming industry.[32] Some properties continued to use the Terrible's name and logo under license from Terrible Herbst, while others were reverted to their previous names.[32][33] The last Affinity property bearing the name, Terrible's Hotel and Casino, was rebranded as the Silver Sevens in 2013.[33][34]

In 2012 and 2013, Affinity sold off several "non-core assets".[35][36] The slot route was sold to Golden Gaming and JETT Gaming (a new company formed by Jerry Herbst).[37][38] The two casinos in Pahrump were also sold to Golden Gaming, and the Searchlight casino to JETT.[37] The Sands Regency and two smaller casinos in Northern Nevada were sold for $19.2 million to Truckee Gaming, a new company led by Affinity executive Ferenc Szony.[39][40] Meanwhile, Affinity expanded to Colorado by buying three casinos in Black Hawk from Golden Gaming.[37]

In February 2017, Z Capital Partners, a private equity firm which had already built up a 41 percent stake in Affinity, bought all outstanding shares in a transaction valuing the company at $580 million.[41][42]

In October 2018, Z Capital proposed to acquire competing casino operator Full House Resorts and merge it into Affinity, but the offer was rejected by Full House executives.[43][44]

Affinity sold its three Colorado casinos in January 2020 to Twin River Worldwide Holdings for $51 million.[45][46]

In March 2020, Affinity established a special-purpose acquisition company, Gaming & Hospitality Acquisition Corp. (GHAC), through which it planned to become a publicly-traded company and merge with a to-be-determined company in the gaming industry.[47][48] GHAC completed an initial public offering in February 2021, raising $200 million.[49][50] Z Capital later announced that it would merge Affinity with a sister company, Sports Information Group, the parent company of the Daily Racing Form.[51] The combined company would be named Affinity Interactive, and would continue to seek an acquisition target with GHAC.[51] The merger was completed in July 2021.[52]

Gaming operations

Former properties

References
  1. Howard Stutz (May 18, 2006). "Herbst Gaming to buy Sands Regent". Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
  2. Form 10-K: Annual Report (Report). Herbst Gaming. March 29, 2002. p. 40 – via EDGAR.
  3. Howard Stutz (May 23, 2011). "Herbst Gaming announces name change to Affinity Gaming". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  4. Joe Bob Briggs (April 17, 2001). "The Vegas Guy: Terrible Casino". UPI. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  5. Mark Waite (June 23, 2006). "Town Casino readies itself for a 'Terrible' 10th". Pahrump Valley Times – via NewsBank.
  6. John McCarron (August 14, 1997). "Ohioan captures Orleans tourney". Las Vegas Sun – via NewsBank.
  7. Greg Kozol (July 22, 2004). "Herbst buys St. Jo Frontier Casino". St. Joseph News-Press – via NewsBank.
  8. "MGM and Venetian applications approved by gaming panel". Las Vegas Sun. February 26, 1999. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  9. Henry Brean (June 4, 1999). "Fire marshal: Lakeside meets safety standards". Pahrump Valley Times – via NewsBank.
  10. "Fireworks open Terrible's at old Continental site". Las Vegas Sun. December 7, 2000. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  11. "Buyers of Continental casino receive approval to take over slot route". Las Vegas Sun. October 5, 2000. Retrieved 2019-03-08.
  12. Form 8-K: Current Report (Report). Jackpot Enterprises. November 30, 2000 – via EDGAR.
  13. Form 10-K: Annual Report (Report). Herbst Gaming. March 29, 2002. p. 2 – via EDGAR.
  14. "Herbst Gaming Inc. opens fifth property". Las Vegas Sun. July 2, 2002 – via NewsBank.
  15. Jeff Simpson (December 7, 2002). "Herbst Gaming reaches deal to acquire IGT's 1,100-machine slot route". Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
  16. "Slot route operator closes on expansion deal". Las Vegas Sun. February 27, 2003. Retrieved 2018-03-08.
  17. "Herbst expanding with Midwest riverboat deal". Las Vegas Sun. July 21, 2004. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  18. Steve Dunn (February 1, 2005). "LaGrange casino under new ownership". Daily Gate City. Keokuk, IA. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  19. Valerie Miller; Matt Ward (November 20, 2006). "Convenience stores expect slot and cigarette revenues to drop". Las Vegas Business Press – via NewsBank.
  20. Annette Wells (October 13, 2006). "Taverns lobby for Question 4". Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
  21. Richard N. Velotta (December 24, 2010). "Q&A: David Ross-Ferrenc Szony". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
  22. Howard Stutz (May 18, 2006). "Herbst Gaming to buy Sands Regent". Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
  23. "Herbst Gaming, Inc. announces the completion of the acquisition of The Sands Regent" (Press release). Herbst Gaming. January 4, 2007 – via NewsBank.
  24. Howard Stutz (April 11, 2007). "Back to a family fold in Primm". Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
  25. Howard Stutz (March 10, 2008). "Herbst Gaming hires financial adviser". Las Vegas Business Press – via NewsBank.
  26. "Herbst Gaming faces hurdles". Las Vegas Review-Journal. April 2, 2008. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  27. Steve Green (March 22, 2009). "Herbst Gaming files for bankruptcy protection". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  28. Arnold M. Knightly (October 31, 2009). "Herbst reorganization plan gets OK". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  29. Howard Stutz (December 16, 2010). "Herbst-less Herbst reorganization approved". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  30. Steve Green (October 25, 2010). "Leaders named at gaming companies after bankruptcy". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  31. Howard Stutz (February 27, 2011). "Las Vegas casinos rename their corporations for many reasons". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  32. Howard Stutz (May 23, 2011). "Herbst Gaming announces name change to Affinity Gaming". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  33. Form 10-K: Annual Report (Report). Affinity Gaming. March 31, 2014. p. F-26 – via EDGAR.
  34. Howard Stutz (May 17, 2013). "Terrible's Casino to become Silver Sevens Hotel & Casino". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  35. Steve Green (September 22, 2011). "Affinity Gaming acquiring casino properties in Colorado". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  36. Steve Green (September 8, 2012). "Affinity selling three of four Northern Nevada casinos". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  37. Howard Stutz (March 1, 2012). "Las Vegas gaming companies complete transactions involving casinos, slot machine routes". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  38. Howard Stutz (July 3, 2011). "Familiar faces stay despite overhauls". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-12.
  39. Howard Stutz (September 7, 2012). "Affinity Gaming to sell three Northern Nevada casinos for $19.2 million". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2012-09-07.
  40. "Affinity Gaming divests three non-core casino properties in Northern Nevada" (Press release). Affinity Gaming. February 1, 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
  41. Richard N. Velotta (August 23, 2016). "Affinity Gaming, owner of Silver Sevens, sold to private equity firm". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2016-08-24.
  42. "Z Capital Partners completes acquisition of Affinity Gaming" (Press release). Z Capital Partners. February 1, 2017. Retrieved 2019-03-10 – via PR Newswire.
  43. Richard N. Velotta (October 22, 2018). "Full House Resorts says Affinity Gaming offer may be too low". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  44. Howard Stutz (October 23, 2018). "Full House Resorts rejects buyout offer, says it 'lacks credibility'". CDC Gaming Reports. Retrieved 2019-03-10.
  45. "Twin River completes $51M purchase of 3 casinos". Washington Post. AP. January 24, 2020. Archived from the original on January 24, 2020. Retrieved 2020-01-24.
  46. Patrick Anderson (January 29, 2019). "Twin River to buy three casinos in Colorado". Providence Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  47. Gillian Tan (October 5, 2020). "Z Capital's Affinity Gaming seeks to raise $150 million for SPAC". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  48. Form S-1: Draft Registration Statement (Report). Gaming & Hospitality Acquisition Corp. July 31, 2020. p. 2 – via EDGAR.
  49. "ZCG and Affinity Gaming affiliate Gaming & Hospitality Acquisition Corp. completes $200 million upsized initial public offering" (Press release). Z Capital Group. February 5, 2021. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  50. Bailey Schulz (January 15, 2021). "Las Vegas-based Affinity Gaming is seeking an acquisition". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  51. Gillian Tan (June 13, 2021). "Z Capital's Affinity Gaming, Sports Info Group plan to merge". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2021-07-04.
  52. "ZCG announces completion of merger creating Affinity Interactive" (Press release). Z Capital Group. July 6, 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-03 – via PR Newswire.
  53. Form 10-K: Annual Report (Report). Affinity Gaming. March 31, 2014. p. 1 – via EDGAR.
  54. Howard Stutz (June 19, 2008). "Debt-strapped Herbst Gaming shuts small Northern Nevada casino". Las Vegas Review-Journal – via NewsBank.
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