On Friday, casino giant Pinnacle Entertainment (NYSE: PNK) agreed to buy Ameristar Casinos (NASDAQ: ASCA) for $869 million, more than doubling its number of casino properties.
Pinnacle, which owns seven casinos in Louisiana, Indiana and Missouri, as well as a racetrack in Ohio, will now take over operations at eight other Ameristar properties in Nevada, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Colorado and Kansas.
Pinnacle will pay $26.50 per share, but will also assume Ameristar’s $1.9 billion in debt.
“The acquisition of Ameristar is a transformative transaction for Pinnacle that will provide us the scale and diversification to more effectively compete,” said CEO Anthony Sanfilippo.
