American casino operator Penn Entertainment Incorporated has reportedly inked a deal that is to see it pay approximately $387 million so as to fully acquire all of the outstanding shares of online sportsbetting provider Barstool Sports Incorporated.
According to a Wednesday report from the Bloomberg news service, the firm previously known as Penn National Gaming Incorporated has held a 36% stake in the online sportsbook operator since 2020 but is now set to bring the enterprise fully in house via two separate tranches by the end of February. The Wyomissing-headquartered company purportedly also disclosed that it has launched Barstool Sports-branded online sportsbetting services in multiple American states including New Jersey, Michigan and West Virginia and that these have helped it to attract a younger audience to its 44 casinos spread across North America.
Adverse allegations:
Nasdaq-listed Penn Entertainment Incorporated reportedly paid some $161.2 million for its current stake in Barstool Sports Incorporated but has recently seen the value of this investment decrease following the emergence of sexual misconduct claims against the subordinate’s often controversial founder, Dave Portnoy (pictured). Nevertheless, the Pennsylvania casino giant’s Chief Executive Officer, Jay Snowden, has purportedly urged investors to remain patient and await a definitive determination on whether such behaviors may have been consensual.
Prompt plan:
For its part and The Patriot-News newspaper used a Wednesday report of its own to disclose that Penn Entertainment Incorporated is now expected to begin by paying roughly $62 million before the end of the year so as to push its overall shareholding in Barstool Sports Incorporated beyond 50%. The source explained that this will likely be followed by a second $325 million transaction for the remaining stake in the online sportsbetting firm.
Conclusive confirmation:
It an official Wednesday filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and Penn Entertainment Incorporated asserted that its Barstool Sports Incorporated plan is to remain ‘subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions’ that are to encompass ‘the absence of any governmental order or law prohibiting such an acquisition’ as well as the fulfilment ‘of any applicable waiting period’ mandated by the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.
Reportedly read a Wednesday filing from Penn Entertainment Incorporated…
“Penn Entertainment Incorporated has call rights with respect to all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Barstool Sports Incorporated not already owned by Penn Entertainment Incorporated. We have now exercised these call rights to bring our ownership of Barstool Sports Incorporated to 100% and the acquisition of the remaining Barstool Sports Incorporated shares is expected to be completed in February of 2023, after which Barstool Sports Incorporated will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Penn Entertainment Incorporated.”