Headwaters Hits the Tables

Middle-market investment bank Headwaters MB has launched a new gaming practice, peHUB has learned. Not the type that focuses on casual MMOs, but the type that focuses on tables and slots. Specifically, it will focus on transactions related to small and mid-sized casinos in states like California, Indiana and the Dakotas.

I spoke last week with Jim von Kreuter, a new Headwaters managing director who will run the firm’s effort out of Chicago. He says that the plan is to focus on M&A advisory and capital-raising work for the vast array of casino-related vendors (equipment, hospitality, etc.). Headwaters also will work to pair real estate developers with holders of gaming licenses, in order to help build multi-purpose properties. For example, a developer might be able to build a hotel and golf course around a small stand-alone casino.

Von Kreuter adds that there already are a handful of other banks in the middle-market gaming space, including Houlihan Lokey, Innovation Capital, Morgan Joseph and Jefferies & Company.