Pinnacle Entertainment - History

History

Pinnacle Entertainment traces its roots back to 1938, when movie mogul Jack L. Warner opened the celebrated Hollywood Park Turf Club racetrack in Inglewood, California. The original shareholders included some of Hollywood’s biggest names, such as Walt Disney, Mervyn LeRoy and Bing Crosby.

After many years in the horseracing business, the company began a transformation into a major casino operator. In 1997, the company acquired Boomtown, Inc. and its three casinos in Nevada, Louisiana, and Mississippi for $188 million. In 1998, it acquired Casino Magic Corp. for $340 million, including two casinos in Mississippi, one in Louisiana, and a controlling stake in two casinos in Argentina.

With its success in the casino business, the company sold the Hollywood Park racetrack in 1999, and in 2000 changed its name to Pinnacle Entertainment. Belterra Casino Resort & Spa made its debut in 2000 as Pinnacle's first company-designed and developed gaming resort. Then in 2005, Pinnacle opened L'Auberge du Lac in Lake Charles, Louisiana, which quickly became the company’s flagship resort.

On September 5, 2006, Pinnacle announced that it purchased Sands Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey and would tear it down to build a $1.5 billion resort. The property was closed on November 11, 2006 and demolished on October 18, 2007. Harsh economic times later caused Pinnacle to delay construction of the new resort. In February 2010, the company announced that it had canceled its construction plans and would instead seek to sell the land.

On December 21, 2006, Pinnacle completed the purchase of the President Casino in St. Louis, Missouri.

Lumière Place opened in downtown St. Louis in December 2007, anchoring an entertainment district that includes The Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis and HoteLumière. In March 2010, Pinnacle opened River City Casino, in south St. Louis County. Then in September 2010, Pinnacle announced the expansion of its L’Auberge Baton Rouge project, which is slated to open summer 2012, pending regulatory approval. The final step in the formal licensing and approval process was successfully completed August 31, clearing the way for a September 1, 2012 Grand Opening. The planned August 29 Grand Opening was postponed due to Hurricane Isaac.

On November 9, 2009, chief executive officer Dan Lee was forced out by the company's board of directors after reportedly physically confronting and threatening a St. Louis County official.

In July 2010, the company sold its Argentina casinos for $40 million.

In January 2011, Pinnacle closed on the purchase of River Downs in southeast Cincinnati.

The company agreed in April 2012 to buy a 75.5% stake in Retama Park, a money-losing horse track in Selma, Texas, for $22.8 million. The purchase is seen as a "defensive move" to help soften the blow if gaming in Texas is expanded and draws visitors away from Pinnacle's Lake Charles properties.

In May 2011, Pinnacle expanded into the Asian gaming market with a $95 million investment for 26 percent ownership of Asian Coast Development Ltd. ACDL is the owner and developer of the Ho Tram Strip, 80 miles away from Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam, which will be the country’s first large-scale integrated destination resort. Upon the closing of the transaction, Pinnacle will enter into a management agreement through 2058 for the second integrated resort on the Ho Tram Strip.

In June 2012, Pinnacle sold Boomtown Reno for $12.9 million to M1 Gaming, the company of former Station Casinos executive Dean DiLullo.

In December 2012, Pinnacle agreed to buy Ameristar Casinos for $869 million plus $1.9 billion in assumed debt. Ameristar owns nine properties in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Mississippi, and northern Nevada.