Dave & Buster’s Pays $835 Million to Buy Entertainment Company Main Event

Ad Blocker Detected

Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.

Text size


Timothy Fadek/Bloomberg

Dave & Buster’s Entertainment
,
the entertainment and dining venue, said on Wednesday it had bought Main Event in a deal that values the family entertainment company at $835 million, including debt.

Once the deal closes, Main Event chief executive Chris Morris will become CEO of

Dave & Buster’s

(ticker: PLAY), taking over from Kevin Sheehan who has held the role since October, the company said in a statement. Main Event was bought from owners Ardent Leisure Group and RedBird Capital Partners.

The all-cash deal is expected to close later this year, subject to approval by 

Ardent Leisure

 (ticker: ALG.AU) stockholders and regulatory review.

Dave & Buster’s expects the acquisition to add to both earnings and growth, and achieve cost savings of $20 million within the first two years from consolidating store support centers and supply-chain efficiencies.

Main Event operates 50 locations across the U.S. including three recently acquired locations in Colorado, providing art bowling, laser tag and hundreds of arcade games.

“From a strategic fit perspective, Main Event’s business model, footprint and asset quality aligns well with Dave & Buster’s,” Sheehan said. “Main Event targets a different demographic, families with younger children, while Dave & Buster’s has primarily targeted young adults.”

Each brand will continue to operate independently after the deal closes, Sheehan added.

Dave & Buster’s stock has risen 20.83% so far this year.

Write to Lina Saigol at lina.saigol@dowjones.com