MARYLAND HEIGHTS, MO. — Penn National Gaming, Inc. (Nasdaq: PENN) has completed its acquisition of the stock of the Harrah’s St. Louis gaming and lodging facility from Caesars Entertainment (Nasdaq: CZR) for approximately $610 million. Penn will rebrand the casino, located in Maryland Heights, as Hollywood Casino St. Louis.
“The acquisition of Harrah’s St. Louis further expands and diversifies Penn National’s regional operating platform with a facility that is extremely well-positioned in another large, stable metropolitan market,” says Peter Carlino, CEO of Penn National. “Our planned facility upgrades include the introduction of Penn National’s Hollywood brand — which has been successfully deployed at 13 other properties across the country — and will invoke the glamour of 1930s’ art deco Hollywood.”
Penn has budgeted $61 million to rebrand and upgrade the casino, which includes updating the gaming floor with 400 new slot machines and aligning the facility’s IT system with Penn’s existing systems.
The casino is situated along the Missouri River and features 109,000 square feet of gaming space, 2,100 gaming machines, 80 table games, a 500-room hotel, dining/entertainment venues and parking for 4,644 vehicles.
In addition to the acquisition, Penn has named former Harrah’s executive Tony Carlucci as the vice president and general manager of the new casino.
“We look forward to a full year benefit of operations at Hollywood Casino St. Louis as well as the three new Hollywood properties in Kansas City, Toledo and Columbus in 2013,” says Carlino.
Penn National Gaming presently operates 29 facilities in Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia and Ontario, Canada. The company’s portfolio includes 36,800 gaming machines, 850 table games, 2,900 hotel rooms and approximately 1.6 million square feet of gaming floor space.
Penn National Gaming’s stock price closed at $40 per share on Tuesday, up from trading at $35.29 per share a year ago. Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s stock price closed at $5.44 per share on Tuesday, down from trading at $15.39 per share this time last year.
— John Nelson