Missouri okays Penn National’s purchase of Pinnacle

The Missouri Gaming Commission has approved Penn National Gaming’s $2.8 billion acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment.

With this, Missouri became the 12th state to approve the purchase process.

Penn National has acquired Pinnacle’s 12 casinos, making it the largest U.S. regional gaming operator having 41 properties in 20 jurisdictions.

Penn National CEO Tim Willmott said in a statement: “Reflecting the progress we have made to date with securing regulatory approvals, and the timeline we have established for the remaining requisite approvals, we remain on schedule to complete the transaction early in the fourth quarter.”

There has been still no resolution to the Federal Trade Commission’s a second request for “additional information and documentary material” regarding Penn’s acquisition of Pinnacle. The companies did not disclose what aspect of the deal drew the second request, which was made in March.

To alleviate anti-trust issues initially, Pinnacle agreed to sell four of its 16 properties – two Ameristar casinos in Missouri and the Belterra gaming brands in Indiana and Ohio – to Boyd Gaming Corp. for $575 million. Boyd will sign a lease agreement with real estate investment trust Gaming and Leisure Properties, which is the landlord for the Pinnacle-owned resorts.

Since the deal was first announced, Penn National has not stopped seeking expansion opportunities. The company is acquiring Margaritaville Resort Casino in Bossier City, La., for $376 million in a joint agreement with real estate investment trust VICI Properties. Penn National has also won the rights to build two “satellite casinos” in Pennsylvania that will have 750 slot machines and 30 table games.

Source: cdcgamingreports.com