The Indiana Gaming Commission approved Penn National Gaming’s $2.8 billion acquisition of regional gaming rival Pinnacle Entertainment Thursday, becoming the sixth regulatory body to favor the transaction.
The Penn-Pinnacle merger is expected to be completed by the end of the year. After adding Pinnacle’s 12 casinos, Penn National will become the largest U.S. regional gaming operator with 41 properties in 20 jurisdictions
“We look forward to securing additional regulatory approvals in the near term and remain on schedule to complete the transaction in the second half of this year,” Penn National CEO Tim Wilmott said in a statement.
Shareholders from both companies have also approved the transaction.
In March, the Federal Trade Commission made a second request for “additional information and documentary material” regarding Penn’s acquisition of Pinnacle.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Penn said the company and Pinnacle would, “continue to cooperate fully with the FTC in its review of the merger.”
The SEC filing did not disclose what aspect the transaction drew the second request.
Penn said in the filing it didn’t believe the second request would delay closing of the transaction, which is expected in the second half of 2018.
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.
Boyd Gaming will become the second-largest regional casino operator with 28 total properties.
