PNGI president DeSanctis to Leave by End of Year

Kevin DeSanctis, president and chief operating officer of Penn National Gaming Inc., will leave the company by the end of this year to form establish his own company.

In a July 26 release, PNGI said DeSanctis is leaving by "mutual agreement." DeSanctis said he intends to purse opportunities in the gaming industry through Revel Entertainment, the new company.

"I will be establishing this entity so I can invest directly as a principal shareholder and apply my 25 years of experience in managing and developing gaming properties," DeSanctis said.

PNGI, which owns Charles Town Races & Slots in West Virginia and Penn National Race Course in Pennsylvania, has retained the executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles International to its board of directors and senior management, including DeSanctis, in identifying a successor.

"We want to express our gratitude to Kevin for his contributions to Penn National over the past five years, thank him in advance for ensuring that this transition is managed seamlessly and efficiently, and wish him the best in his future endeavors," PNGI chief executive officer Peter Carlino said.

In addition to Charles Town and Penn National, PNGI has racing operations in Maine, New Jersey, and Ohio. It operates 16 gaming facilities--racetrack and non-track--in 13 jurisdictions. In aggregate, company facilities have about 20,000 slot machines, about 400 table games, and almost 1,200 hotel rooms.