Penn To Acquire Rest of Barstool Sports

Penn Entertainment has exercised its rights to purchase the chunk of Barstool Sports that it didn’t already own, according to an SEC filing on Wednesday.

The company formerly known as Penn National Gaming will have paid $550 million over a three-year period to acquire all of Barstool’s outstanding shares, a process expected to conclude in February.

Penn will pay $325 million for the half of Barstool it didn’t already own.

Penn first purchased a 36% stake in Barstool in February 2020 and announced in another SEC filing that it had purchased another 14% for $62 million.

As part of the original deal, Penn had the option to acquire the entire company founded by Dave Portnoy in 2003.

Game-Changing Acquisitions

Penn is coming off a record quarter where it generated $1.6 billion.

• Its interactive segment — which includes Barstool Sportsbook, theScore Bet and slot machines — had $142 million in revenue in the quarter, a 40% bump. 
• Penn acquired Score Media and Gaming in October 2021 for $2 billion, giving the gaming company a foothold in Canada. 
• Barstool branding is utilized in Penn’s sports betting efforts at its casinos (where it’s launched Barstool Sportsbook locations) and with a betting app available in 11 states.

Penn remained bullish on Barstool even as founder Dave Portnoy was accused of sexual misconduct in an Insider report. Portnoy sued the news outlet and denied wrongdoing.

The allegations, however, led gambling regulators in Nevada and Indiana to investigate Penn and Barstool in March.