Penn Entertainment – the business formerly known as Penn National Gaming – has exercised its option to acquire all remaining shares of media brand Barstool Sports.
Penn acquired a 36% stake in Barstool for $161.2m in 2020, after which it rebranded its sportsbook product to bear the Barstool brand name.
The operator would then increase its stake in Barstool beyond 50% – paying $62.0m for a further 14% stake – within three years. Penn was also granted immediately exercisable call rights that would allow it to acquire the remainder of the media business, “based on a fair market value calculation”.
In February of this year, Penn then revealed that it planned to exercise these options and control the entire Barstool business by early 2023.
Now, Penn has announced that it has now exercised the options. It will therefore complete the acquisition of the remainder of Barstool in February 2023, assuming it receives all necessary regulatory approvals to do so.
The announcement comes two weeks after Penn published its financial results for the first half of 2022. Alongside these results, it announced it was changing its name from Penn National Gaming to Penn Entertainment. In its earnings call, chief executive Jay Snowden also revealed the operator’s plans for a recession that could affect its business, but said it had not seen signs of a slowdown in demand yet.
Image credit: Meilleur Prêt