History
The company traces its roots to Penn National Race Course, which opened in 1972 in the Harrisburg suburb of Grantville, Pennsylvania.
The company was incorporated as PNRC Corp. in 1982, and changed its name to Penn National Gaming, Inc. in 1994.
Since 1996 its CEO has been Peter Carlino.
In 2003, Penn National bought Hollywood Casino Corp. for $328 million plus $360 million in assumed debt, gaining casinos in Aurora, Illinois; Tunica, Mississippi; and Shreveport, Louisiana.
In 2005, Penn National acquired Argosy Gaming Company for $2.2 billion making it at the time the third largest publicly held gaming company in the country (behind MGM Mirage and Harrah's Entertainment).
In November 2006 Penn National Gaming failed in an attempt to acquire Harrah's Entertainment. The deal to purchase Harrah's fell through, and Harrah's was eventually taken over by two private equity firms.
In 2007 it acquired the Zia Park racino in Hobbs, New Mexico for $200 million.
An attempt in 2007 to take company private with a $6.1 billion buyout fell through with prospective buyers, New York-based Fortress Investment Group and Centerbridge Partners.
In November 2012, Penn National announced a plan to spin off 17 of its 29 properties in a new real estate investment trust (REIT), in an effort to reduce taxes and cost of capital, and overcome license ownership restrictions. The REIT would also pursue sale-and-leaseback transactions with other casino operators.
In February 2013, Penn National agreed to sell the Bullwhackers Casino in Black Hawk to an investor group led by casino developer John Zimpel.
Read more about this topic: Penn National Gaming
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