Acquisition of Indiana Casino Parent Hits Milestone
Ameristar Casino Hotel saw the biggest gain in February.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe proposed $2.8 billion acquisition of Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. (Nasdaq: PNK), which owns Ameristar Casino and Hotel in East Chicago and Belterra Casino Resort in Florence, is moving forward. Penn National Gaming Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN), which announced the deal in December, says shareholders of both companies have approved the acquisition.
Plans for the acquisition were first announced in December. In addition to Ameristar and Belterra, Penn National stands to take over ownership of 11 other Pinnacle properties. Timothy Wilmott, chief executive officer of Penn National, says the shareholder vote is "another important milestone" toward completing the deal.
"We are pleased by the support of our shareholders, which we believe reflects their confidence in the significant near and long-term value this transaction will create for investors in both companies," Wilmott said in a news release. "Over the last several months we have made continued progress towards the completion of the transaction and we’re making meaningful progress with our post-acquisition integration and team planning."
Pending regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to close in the second half of 2018.