Penn National Gaming Secures Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board and West Virginia Lottery Commission Approval of Its Pending Acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment

Penn National Gaming, Inc. (PENN: Nasdaq) (“Penn National” or the “Company”) announced that at separate meetings today, The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (“PGCB”) and the West Virginia Lottery Commission (“WVLC”) approved the Company’s pending acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. (NASDAQ: PNK) (“Pinnacle”). The completion of the proposed transaction is contingent on receipt of additional regulatory approvals, as well as certain other conditions.

“We are grateful for the prompt review by the PGCB and WVLC of the proposed transaction and are very pleased to have cleared the first regulatory hurdles on the path towards completing our proposed acquisition of Pinnacle Entertainment,” said Timothy J. Wilmott, Chief Executive Officer of Penn National Gaming. “We look forward to securing additional regulatory approvals in the near term, with our goal remaining to complete the transaction in the second half of 2018,” continued Wilmott. “In the meantime, our transition team is making good progress formulating a new organizational structure, which will include a blend of proven and talented team members from both companies, while ensuring we meet or exceed our revenue and cost synergy targets.”

Penn National and Pinnacle recently announced that both companies will hold special shareholder meetings on March 29th to vote on matters related to the acquisition.

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 December 31, 2017, the Company operated twenty-nine facilities in seventeen jurisdictions, including California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia, and Ontario, Canada. At December 31, 2017, in aggregate, Penn National Gaming operated approximately 36,200 gaming machines, 810 table games and 4,800 hotel rooms. The Company also offers social online gaming through its Penn Interactive Ventures division.

About Pinnacle

Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc. owns and operates 16 gaming entertainment businesses, located in Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In addition, Pinnacle holds a majority interest in the racing license owner, as well as a management contract, for Retama Park Racetrack outside of San Antonio, Texas.