Private investment firm Starwood Capital Group is reportedly selling New York-based restaurant company BR Guest Hospitality to Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta.
BR Guest brands include Dos Caminos and the Strip House and it has restaurants in New York and Las Vegas. The company was founded by Stephen Hanson in 1987. Hanson sold BR Guest to Starwood in 2007, and nine years later the investment group is expected to close a deal with Fertitta in the next few weeks, according to the "New York Post."
Fertitta is the CEO and sole owner of Fertitta Entertainment, Inc., which includes Landry's restaurant group, encompassing more than 500 eateries including brands such as Landry's, Chart House, Morton's the Steakhouse, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and Rainforest Cafe. Fertitta got into the casino business in 2005 when he purchased the Golden Nugget, which today has five casinos in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Nevada; Atlantic City; Biloxi, Mississippi; and Lake Charles, Louisiana. Fertitta is the third cousin of Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, brothers who own Station Casinos and sold the Ultimate Fighting Championship to William Morris Endeavor for $4 billion earlier this year.
Under the Fertitta Entertainment ownership umbrella, Golden Nugget guests who earn rewards as part of the casinos' 24 Karat Select Club can redeem those comps at hundreds of non-casino Landry's-owned restaurants. If the BR Guest sale goes through, Golden Nugget gamblers may have some more options of where to spend their comps.