Penn National strikes deal for Tropicana Las Vegas

ator Penn National Gaming Inc. is to acquire the Tropicana Las Vegas hotel and casino from its shareholders, the largest of which being a partnership between Alex Yemenidjian and private equity firm Onex Corporation, for $360m.

Onex and its affiliates have announced the agreement of the acquisition, and Onex’s portion of the proceeds will be approximately $50m.

Tropicana Las Vegas, which has spent $200m on renovating the property, will be the first Penn National-owned casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

Penn National currently operates 26 facilities across 17 jurisdictions, and Tropicana Las Vegas will be its second Nevada casino.

Penn National CEO Timothy Wilmott said in a press release: “The planned acquisition of Tropicana Las Vegas establishes a strong presence on the Las Vegas Strip for Penn National Gaming, fulfilling an important long-term strategic objective for the company. With a $360m acquisition cost, we believe we have structured a prudent transaction to own and operate a premier Strip asset at an attractive price of entry.

“Given our goal of leveraging Penn National’s database of nearly three million active regional gaming customers, we have spent the past several years reviewing an acquisition of numerous gaming assets in Las Vegas.”

The deal is expected to be completed later this year.