Penn National completes long-mooted Pinnacle Entertainment purchase

Copyright : luzitanija / 123RF Stock Photo

Penn National Gaming has unveiled the completion of its previously announced $2.8bn acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment, in addition to related divestitures to Boyd Gaming Corporation and real estate transactions with Gaming and Leisure Properties.

Via the transaction, Penn National takes its total operations within North America to 40 properties across 18 jurisdictions, encapsulating more than 49,000 gaming machines, 1,200 table games and nearly 9,000 hotel rooms.

Timothy J Wilmott, CEO of Penn National, commented: “Our acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment marks a significant milestone in Penn National’s 24-year history of growth as a public company, which has been predicated on our unwavering commitment to deliver exceptional entertainment to customers, support for the local communities where we operate and enhancement of value for our shareholders.

“As the industry leader, Penn National is poised for continued growth with a portfolio of premiere gaming facilities, and more than five million active customers in its player rewards database.

“With the expected incremental free cash flow to be generated from our expanded base of operations, we believe we are well positioned to reduce leverage, evaluate additional accretive strategic growth investments and opportunistically return capital to shareholders.

“We are pleased to welcome Pinnacle’s team members to Penn National. Our operating teams consistently deliver best-in-market gaming, entertainment and dining experiences for our customers.

“We expect to realise approximately $100 million in cost-related synergies, and expect to generate further revenue synergies through efforts such as monetising our database, cross marketing our properties, sports wagering and further leveraging our social gaming platform.”

Furthermore, GLPI has acquired the real property assets at Plainridge Park Casino, Massachusetts for $250m, as well as amending the Pinnacle master lease to allow for the sale of the operating assets of a further three properties to Boyd Gaming.

Coming in at an outlay of approximately $563.5m, Boyd secured the operations of Ameristar St Charles and Ameristar Kansas City in Missouri as well as the Belterra Casino Resort in Florence, Indiana, in addition to utilising further financing from GLPI for the operations and real estate of Belterra Park in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Taking its total operations to 29 casino properties across ten states, Keith Smith, president and CEO of Boyd Gaming, stated: “By adding these four high-quality properties, we have significantly expanded our portfolio and enhanced our free cash flow profile at a compelling multiple.  

“We have gained a strong presence in three of the Midwest’s largest gaming markets, with access to millions of potential new customers.  

“We are pleased to welcome the Ameristar and Belterra team members to Boyd Gaming, and look forward to great success together.”