Penn National Gaming, Inc. said Wednesday it received approvals from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and the West Virginia Lottery Commission to acquire regional casino rival Pinnacle Entertainment. Completion of the proposed $2.8 billion transaction is contingent on other regulatory approvals.
The two states were the first to approve the merger.
Both companies will hold special shareholder meetings on March 29 to vote on matters related to the acquisition.
“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,” Penn National CEO Tim Wilmott said in a statement.
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission made a second request for “additional information and documentary material” regarding the transaction.
In a filing with Securities and Exchange Commission, Penn National 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 of the transaction drew the second request.
After the deal closes, Penn National will operate a combined 41 properties with about 53,500 slot machines, 1,300 table games and 8,300 hotel rooms in the United States.
“Our transition team is making good progress formulating a new organizational structure, which will include a blend of proven and talented team members from both companies, while ensuring we meet or exceed our revenue and cost synergy targets,” Wilmott said.
The transaction was announced in December. To alleviate anti-trust issues, Pinnacle said at the time it would sell four of its Ameristar properties to Boyd Gaming Corp. for $575 million. At the same time, Boyd will sign a lease agreement with Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc., the landlord for Penn National and Pinnacle.
