The casino industry, which is happy with the merger, is thinning on its acquisition targets, but the acquisition of Kuzner International announced this week shows it can continue trading at an affordable price, industry experts said.
"It's hard to see what the next target will be, but given the capital that is interested in this kind of asset, other deals may follow," Goldman Sachs analyst Stephen Kent said in a research note.
Investors led by Kerzner chairman Sol Kerzner and his son, Butch, have offered to pay about $3 billion to take the Bahamas-based company private.
The deal follows news last week that Aztarsa, the owner of Tropicana casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, agreed to be acquired by Riverboat gambling operator Pinnacle Entertainment Inc for about $1.45 billion.
The remaining acquisition candidates include Amerista Casino and Isle of Capri Casino, a steel and dockside casino company, but both are majority-owned by insiders, said analyst Larry Klatskin at Jefferies & Co.
"Once a family decides to sell, a deal can be done quickly. But if they don't want to sell, a deal doesn't happen," he said.
Gambling's popularity has soared in recent years, along with the value of underlying properties, but acquisitions have been a key growth driver as so many restrictions limit where casino operators can expand. 릴게임
"The obvious companies are gone... Argosi and Aztar have always been two cargoes to go to one day," Klatskin said, referring to Argosi Gaming, the Riverboat casino operator acquired in October by casino and racetrack operator Penn National Gaming for about $1.4 billion.