Top honchos from Gaming & Leisure Properties, including CEO Peter Carlino, recently met with J.P. Morgan analyst Joseph Greff.
They assessed the current state of regional gaming markets as no better than “okay” and predicted that the industry trend to come would be more consolidation, not regional expansion. When it was undergoing its REIT split-off from Penn National Gaming, GLPI executives bragged that the phone would be ringing off the hook from casino companies looking to make deals. That didn’t happen, unless you count the Casino Queen acquisition. Greff reports that “conversations have happened, but nothing has exceeded the introductory stage.”
As GLPI’s big gulp, its attempted takeover of Pinnacle Entertainment, the two sides were said to be working “diligently” at what will be a long and complex process. Pinnacle management, however, seems to be keen on making the deal happen, at least to hear GLPI execs tell it, and we take them at their word.
* I’m not sure why it’s news that Circus Circus is number-one (at least among MGM Resorts International properties) with the Latino demographic but there you have it. Of course, an article like this is all it takes to bring out the knuckle-draggers among the Las Vegas Review-Journal readership.
