Pinnacle Completes Purchase of Retama Park

The planned purchase of Retama Park by Pinnacle Entertainment, a transaction approved in December by the Texas Racing Commission, was completed Jan. 30.

Nevada-based Pinnacle disclosed acquisition of a majority interest in the owner of the racing license for Retama Park Racetrack in Selma, Texas. At closing, the company paid cash consideration of $15 million to acquire a 75.5% equity interest.

Pinnacle Retama Partners will use the proceeds of the transaction primarily to refinance the existing indebtedness of Retama Development Corporation. In addition, Pinnacle entered into a management contract with RDC to manage operations of Retama.

In conjunction with the closing, RDC repaid approximately $3.3 million of loans owned by the company that were used to maintain continuity in the operations of Retama Park Racetrack.

Pinnacle president Anthony Sanfilippo said in a statement the purchase allows the company to extend its reach.

"We are very excited to welcome Retama Park to the Pinnacle Entertainment family through our management contract for the track and to expand our geographic reach to the great state of Texas," Sanfilippo said. "We will immediately begin work to integrate Retama Park into our portfolio and look forward to leveraging Pinnacle's operational and marketing expertise to improve the track's operating performance.

"Long term, we believe Retama Park offers Pinnacle and its stakeholders tremendous strategic value in terms of expanding our geographic reach to the vibrant Texas markets of San Antonio and Austin and further diversifying our operating base. We thank Retama Development Corporation, the City of Selma, Retama Partners Limited, and the Texas Racing Commission for their support and assistance in bringing this transaction to successful completion."