PENN NATIONAL GAMING,INC. (NASDAQ:PENN) Files An 8-K Other EventsItem 8.01 Other Events.
As previously announced, Penn National Gaming,Inc. (“Penn”) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of December17, 2017 (the “Merger Agreement”), with Pinnacle Entertainment,Inc. (“Pinnacle”) and Franchise Merger Sub,Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Penn (“Merger Sub”), providing for the merger of Merger Sub with and into Pinnacle (the “Merger”), with Pinnacle surviving the Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Penn.
This Form8-K contains certain supplemental disclosures regarding the Merger.
Pending Pinnacle Stockholder Litigation.
As previously disclosed on page133 of the definitive joint proxy statement/prospectus related to the Merger dated February28, 2018 (the “Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus”) under the heading “Litigation Relating to the Merger,” on February21, 2018, a purported stockholder of Pinnacle filed a putative class action lawsuit against Pinnacle and its directors (together, the “Defendants”) in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, captioned George Smithv. Pinnacle Entertainment,Inc., etal., Case No.2:18-cv-00314 (D. Nev.). The complaint alleges that the Defendants violated Sections14(a)and 20(a)of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) because the preliminary Form S-4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) allegedly contains material omissions and misstatements. The complaint seeks, among other things, injunctive relief preventing the consummation of the Merger until additional disclosures are made, and damages. The Defendants believe that the action is without merit.
In addition, after the filing of the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus, on March2, 2018, a purported stockholder of Pinnacle filed a putative class action lawsuit against the Defendants in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, captioned Robert Ohigashi v. Pinnacle Entertainment,Inc., et al., Case 2:18-cv-00387 (D. Nev.). On March7, 2018, a purported stockholder of Pinnacle filed a putative class actions lawsuit against the Defendants in the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, captioned Adam Franchi v. Pinnacle Entertainment,Inc., et al., Case No.2:18-cv-00415. Similar to the first complaint described above, the complaints filed on March2, 2018 and March7, 2018 allege that the Defendants violated Sections14(a)and 20(a)of the Exchange Act because the preliminary FormS-4 filed with the Commission allegedly contains material omissions and misstatements. The complaints seek, among other things, injunctive relief preventing the consummation of the Merger until additional disclosures are made, and damages. The Defendants believe that these actions are also without merit. The Defendants believe that no further disclosure is required under applicable laws; however, to avoid the risk of the litigation delaying or adversely affecting the Merger and to minimize the expense of defending the litigation related to the Merger, the Defendants have agreed to make the supplemental disclosures related to the Merger as set forth herein. As a result of the supplemental disclosures set forth herein, the named plaintiffs in each of the pending lawsuits (George Smithv. Pinnacle Entertainment,Inc., etal., Robert Ohigashi v. Pinnacle Entertainment,Inc., et al. and Adam Franchi v. Pinnacle Entertainment,Inc., et al.) have concluded that the claims in each of the lawsuits have been mooted, have determined not to seek to enjoin the special meeting of Company stockholders to vote on the Merger, and will dismiss each lawsuit with prejudice. Nothing in this Form8-K shall be deemed an admission of the legal necessity or materiality under applicable laws of any of the supplemental disclosures set forth herein.
SUPPLEMENT TO JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS
Set forth below are supplemental disclosures to the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus. This supplemental information should be read in conjunction with the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus, which should be read in its entirety.
The penultimate sentence of the final paragraph on page71 of the Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus concerning the “Background of the Merger” is amended and supplemented by adding the following bolded and underlined text:
After discussion, the Pinnacle Board instructed management to contact Penn to obtain additional information regarding its proposal in the areas of regulatory, financing, third-party consents and diligence, including information