- Appointment Follows Announced Retirement
of Saul V. Reibstein -
- Fair Brings Diverse 32-Year Background in
Gaming, Resorts and Real Estate Development to New Role -
Penn National Gaming, Inc. (PENN: NASDAQ) (“Penn” or the
“Company”), announced today the appointment of William J. (“B.J.”)
Fair, as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
(“CFO”), effective January 1, 2017, subject to customary regulatory
approvals. Mr. Fair, who has served as the Company’s Executive Vice
President, Chief Development Officer since 2014, will continue to
report directly to Penn’s Chief Executive Officer, Timothy J.
Wilmott. Mr. Fair’s appointment follows today’s announced
retirement at the end of this year of Saul V. Reibstein, who has
served as Penn National’s CFO since December 2013. Mr. Reibstein
will assume a transitional role with Penn National through mid-2017
to ensure a seamless transfer of his CFO responsibilities to Mr.
Fair. In addition, the Company announced today that it has begun a
search for a new Chief Development Officer.
Prior to joining Penn National, B.J. Fair served for 30 years in
executive management positions in the hospitality industry,
overseeing the financial operations and large-scale development
projects for leading public companies, including American Skiing
Company, Universal Studios and Disney Development Company. During
his time at Penn National, Mr. Fair has played a significant role
in overseeing and structuring the financing strategies for the
Company’s major growth initiatives, including the acquisition and
master plan development of Tropicana Las Vegas; the development and
opening of Plainridge Park Casino in Massachusetts; the
construction of Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego; and the Company’s
entrance into the video gaming terminal (“VGT”) market in Illinois,
commencing with the acquisition of Prairie State Gaming.
In his role as CFO, Mr. Fair will continue to oversee all
corporate growth and development initiatives and the Company’s
financial and treasury functions, including financial and periodic
reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission, bank
relationships, conducting internal and industry analysis to support
the Company’s goals for growth, investor relations, and
transactional activities.
Penn National Gaming Chief Executive Officer, Timothy Wilmott,
commented, “We want to express our deep gratitude to Saul for his
extensive contributions to Penn National during a transformational
period for our Company, during which we completed the successful
separation of our gaming assets from our real estate assets, thus
creating the gaming industry’s first real estate investment trust
(“REIT”). Having previously worked with the Company for over 15
years in both an auditing and Board capacity, Saul helped Penn
National maintain its long-term record of growth and success as we
continued the expansion of our regional gaming platform, acquired
an asset on the Las Vegas strip and leveraged our core competencies
in new areas such as social and online gaming and the VGT market.
In addition, Saul played a leading role in the Jamul Indian
Village’s $460 million refinancing of the Hollywood Casino-Jamul
San Diego, which was announced today. On behalf of the Board of
Directors and everyone at Penn National, we wish him the very best
in his retirement and thank him for ensuring that the transition is
managed seamlessly and efficiently.”
Mr. Wilmott added, “BJ brings a solid record of corporate
growth, strategic development and financial experience to his new
role, and he’ll be working alongside a deep and experienced team of
operations, marketing, project development and legal professionals
to help him execute on our strategic growth initiatives and our
near-term priorities to de-lever and strengthen our balance
sheet.”
Mr. Fair previously served as President and Chief Executive
Officer of American Skiing Company where he had oversight of ten
ski mountain resorts. Mr. Fair orchestrated the financial
turn-around of the company, and oversaw the successful sale of the
resorts. Prior to American Skiing, Mr. Fair was President and
Director of Universal Studios Port Aventura in Tarragona, Spain,
where he was responsible for establishing the company’s strategic
direction, business planning and master planning. Mr. Fair also
served in executive management roles with the Universal Creative
Division of Universal Studios and with the Disney Development
Company.
About Penn National Gaming
Penn National Gaming owns, operates or has ownership interests
in gaming and racing facilities and video gaming terminal
operations with a focus on slot machine entertainment. At June 30,
2016, the Company operated twenty-six facilities in sixteen
jurisdictions, including Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine,
Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey,
New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, and Ontario.
At June 30, 2016, in aggregate, Penn National Gaming operated
approximately 33,400 gaming machines, 800 table games and 4,600
hotel rooms.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements can be identified by the use of forward
looking terminology such as “expects,” “believes,” “estimates,”
“projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should” or
“anticipates” or the negative or other variations of these or
similar words, or by discussions of future events, strategies or
risks and uncertainties, including future plans, strategies,
performance, developments, acquisitions, capital expenditures, and
operating results. Actual results may vary materially from
expectations. These forward looking statements are inherently
subject to risks and, accordingly, any forward looking statements
are qualified in their entirety by reference to the factors
discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 2015, as well as any subsequent Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, each as filed
with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The
Company does not intend to update publicly any forward-looking
statements except as required by law. In light of these risks,
uncertainties and assumptions, the forward-looking events discussed
in this press release may not occur.
View source
version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161020006519/en/
Penn National Gaming, Inc.Eric Schippers, 610-373-2400Sr. Vice
President, Public AffairsorJCIRJoseph N. Jaffoni, Richard
Land212-835-8500penn@jcir.com
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