Your recollection is correct. MGM sold the pair of Laughlin casinos to the Marnells in 2006 for $200 million. The buyers paid dearly: The sale price was estimated at 10 times cash flow when seven times cash flow was the industry norm for casinos that aren’t on the Strip. But during the go-go years of 2004-08 no price seemed too high to pay.
Soon thereafter, the Marnells built M Resort, a $1 billion casino that … let’s say it didn’t do so well. By June 2011, Penn National Gaming was able to buy M for $230.5 million in a debt-for-equity swap. Anthony Marnell III stayed on as titular head of M Resort – a sensible move, as Penn National had no Vegas experience at the time, being mostly in riverboat and ‘racino’ markets.
Penn’s shopping expedition did not, however, extend to the two casinos in Laughlin. Each belongs to a discrete holding company, both of which are subsidiaries of Saddle West Investors, which lists Anthony Marnell II and Anthony Marnell III as corporate officers. The official biography of the younger Marnell, on Marnell Cos.’ Web site, describes him as CEO of both M Resort and of Marnell-Sher Gaming, the operating entity for the Colorado Belle and Edgewater – and another Saddle West subsidiary.
Although Penn National has kicked the tires of a few Las Vegas Strip casinos, it has never publicly manifested any interest in Laughlin. At present, Penn is attempting to spin off part of the company into a real estate investment trust (or REIT). As such, it intends to purchase casinos and lease them back to their original owners – at a steep price. Should this happen, it might well try to bring the two Laughlin casinos into the Penn fold.
