Indiana regulators approve Pinnacle-Ameristar deal

Anthony Sanfilippo, CEO of Pinnacle Entertainment, commented, "We thank the Indiana Gaming Commission for approving our proposed acquisition of Ameristar Casinos, and look forward to entering the Chicagoland market with Ameristar Casino Hotel East Chicago. The property and its team members have a reputation for providing a high level of service and top-quality guest experience, and we are excited to welcome them to the Pinnacle Entertainment family in the near future. The property will also augment our presence in the broader region, which currently includes Belterra Casino Resort in Florence, Indiana, and in the future, will include our new gaming entertainment center currently being developed at River Downs in Cincinnati, Ohio.

"We continue to make progress toward obtaining Federal Trade Commission and the remaining state gaming regulatory agency approvals necessary to complete the acquisition. We remain on track to close the transaction in the 2013 third quarter," Sanfilippo concluded.

The merger of the two Las Vegas-based regional gaming giants would give Pinnacle ownership of two Indiana casinos; Pinnacle’s Belterra Casino Resort & Spa in Florence and the Ameristar Casino & Hotel, East Chicago, which is located in Indiana but attracts visitors from the Chicagoland area.

Completion of the transaction, in which Pinnacle will pay Ameristar stockholders $26.50 per share and assume $1.9 billion of debt, is still subject to additional regulatory approvals and closing conditions.

Pinnacle reached an agreement earlier this month with the Federal Trade Commission to sell the company’s Lumiere Place in St. Louis and Ameristar’s under-construction casino development in Lake Charles, La., to satisfy antitrust concerns.

The deal as it stands would give Pinnacle 17 gaming properties in nine states. Nevada gaming regulators approved the transaction in May.