Henderson casino left out of PT’s deal: Profit up for PDS

Thursday, May 10, 2001 | 10:56 a.m.

When a small Las Vegas gaming company acquires the PT's Pub chain of video poker bars later this year, the deal won't include a 15,000-square-foot Henderson casino.

PDS Financial Corp., a diversified public company that operates as PDS Gaming, announced Wednesday that it is buying the 23 PT's Pub operations in Southern Nevada.

But the deal with a partnership that includes Revenue Properties Co. Ltd., Toronto, won't include the PT Mining Co., a Henderson casino with 163 slot machines.

Bill Kennedy, vice president of investments and development for Revenue Properties, said the Henderson casino is for sale.

"It will either be sold separately to another person or it may be of interest to PDS once we conclude the other transaction," Kennedy said.

He said both PDS and Revenue Properties agreed not to include the Henderson facility in the current sale, which is expected to close Sept. 1. A purchase price has not been disclosed by either party.

Of the 23 bars being acquired in the deal, 19 have restricted licenses, meaning they have 15 or fewer machines each. A typical PT's Pub has about 4,000 to 6,000 square feet in a sports-bar environment with a restaurant.

Kennedy said his company opted to exit the gambling industry and will focus instead on Canadian real estate.

Separately, -- PDS Gaming, which finances, leases, sells, manufactures and refurbishes casino equipment and owns a casino in downtown Reno -- reported first-quarter earnings today.

For the three months ending March 31, the company reported net income of $464,000, 12 cents a share, on revenues of $9.4 million. For the same quarter a year ago, the company reported net income of $175,000, 5 cents a share, on revenues of $18 million.

The company said the first quarter of 2000 included a record $9.8 million in lease revenues that was not repeated in 2001.

Peter Cleary, president and chief operating officer of PDS, said the acquisition of PT's Pubs is expected to increase the company's revenues by 50 percent next year.

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