The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and the West Virginia Lottery Commission recently approved Penn National’s $2.8 billion acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment, which was announced last December. In addition, shareholders from both companies overwhelming approved of the merger.
Penn National Chief Executive Officer Timothy Wilmott said, “We are grateful for the prompt review by the PGCB and WVLC of the proposed transaction and are very pleased to have cleared the first regulatory hurdles on the path towards completing our proposed acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment. We look forward to securing additional regulatory approvals in the near term, with our goal remaining to complete the transaction in the second half of 2018.”
For the shareholder agreement, Wilmott said, “The acquisition of Pinnacle’s operations will allow Penn National to further raise the bar. Today’s shareholder vote was another important milestone toward completing the acquisition of Pinnacle.”
Those “additional regulatory approvals” include the Federal Trade Commission, which recently made a second request for “additional information and documentary materials” regarding whether the acquisition would violate antitrust laws. Observers said the FTC is concerned that Penn National could become a regional monopoly, even though Pinnacle agreed to sell four properties to Boyd Gaming. However, the completed transaction would leave Penn National with 41 properties in 20 jurisdictions throughout North America.
Besides regulatory approvals, both companies held shareholder meetings to vote on acquisition-related issues.
Penn National officials still expect the deal to be completed by the end of the year. The company operates 29 gaming facilities in 16 states and Ontario, Canada, including casinos and racinos. The company also operates online social gaming sites.
Pinnacle Entertainment, founded in 1938 as Hollywood Park Entertainment, operates 16 gaming facilities in nine states. Twelve of those would be acquired by Penn National due to the acquisition.
