Penn National Gaming announced that Peter Carlino is resigning his position as the company’s board chairman effective June 12. Company officials said the federal Clayton Antitrust Act requires the move, in the wake of Penn’s acquisition last year of Pinnacle Entertainment.
Carlino, who has been Penn’s chairman since the company went public in 1994, will remain chairman and CEO of Gaming and Leisure Properties, the real estate investment trust spun off from Penn in 2013. GLPI owns the real estate for nearly 50 casinos and racetracks under the Penn National/Hollywood Casino flag. Penn National leases the properties from GLPI and handles all operations.
In a filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, the company cited Section 8 of the Clayton Antitrust Act as prohibiting Carlino from holding the role of chairman of both Penn National and GLPI concurrently, because of the change in the company’s asset composition due to the Pinnacle acquisition.
Carlino will be replaced as board chairman by David Handler, who has served on the board since 1994 and is a partner at independent financial advisory and private equity firm Centerview Partners. Carlino will remain on the board in the non-voting role of chairman emeritus.
Handler will receive compensation of $50,000 as a retainer and $375,000 in company equity, according to the Reading Eagle.
Penn National has reduced the size of its board from eight to seven.
