Wendover Gaming purchases Nugget Hotel & Casino and Red Garter Hotel & Casino

In a press release, Wendover Resorts announced the sale of the Wendover Nugget Hotel & Casino and the Red Garter Hotel & Casino to Wendover Gaming, an investor group led by Eric Persson and Justin Beltram. Speaking on behalf of the buyer group that purchased the Wendover Casinos, Eric Persson, a Manager of Wendover Gaming, said, “we are very excited to own these assets, and look forward to growing this market.”

The transaction also includes the sale of Utah Trailways, a bus company that transports customers daily from Salt Lake City to the casino properties in Wendover, and the sale of additional parcels of land associated with the Wendover Casinos.

In addition to being the majority owner of 888Gaming, Eric Persson is also the President and COO of Aruze Gaming America, Inc., which designs, develops, and manufactures slot machines and gaming devices for the global casino market. “I intend to work closely with Aruze to bring their market leading technologies to the resorts. Everyone knows Aruze has great slot and electronic table products, fantastic RFID table game chips, and the game changing Omni-Table. Both companies look forward to maximizing synergies to our customers’ benefit.”

The two Wendover Casinos are being sold by the Ensign family and its affiliated entities Generation 2000 and G2010. The Managing Partner of the sellers, David A. Ensign, had this to say: “The sale of Wendover Resorts marks the end of an era of Ensign family Nevada gaming licenses which spans 40 years. It is time to let a younger generation direct these properties through the 21st century.”

Wendover is the closest casino market to Salt Lake City, with direct access via I-80. The Wendover Nugget Hotel & Casino has 489 hotel rooms and 1,057 total gaming positions. The Red Garter Hotel & Casino has 183 hotel rooms and 652 total gaming positions. The Wendover Nugget Hotel & Casino was originally acquired by Wendover Resorts in 2002 and the Red Garter Hotel & Casino was acquired by Wendover Resorts in 2010.