Pinnacle Closes Divestiture Of Ameristar Casino Lake Charles Devlop. Project

(RTTNews) - Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (PNK) said Friday that it has closed the sale of the equity interests of the entity developing the Ameristar Casino Lake Charles project to Golden Nugget, following the receipt of regulatory approvals from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the Louisiana Gaming Control Board.

At closing, Pinnacle received about $176 million in cash, which represents all completed cash expenditures on the development up until the date of closing, less a $37 million credit and any deferred consideration.

The company also retained a $4 million deposit, and will receive additional cash consideration of $25 million upon the opening of the casino development project and subsequent release from escrow by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board and $10 million of deferred consideration from Golden Nugget in July 2016.

The company said it used the net cash proceeds received at closing to repay about $180 million of aggregate principal amount of its Term Loan B-1 under its Amended and Restated Credit Agreement.