Aztar Accepts Pinnacle’s Latest, $1.97-Billion Offer

Tropicana casino operator Aztar Corp. said Friday that it had agreed to Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.’s increased takeover offer of $51 a share in cash and stock.

Pinnacle valued the deal at about $1.97 billion in equity and $677 million in debt.

Aztar, owner of Tropicana casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, said a $50-a-share cash offer from hotel and casino owner Columbia Sussex Corp. was no longer a superior proposal.

The deal with Pinnacle, which is based in Las Vegas but does not have a casino there, included $47 a share in cash and $4 a share in stock, subject to a collar provision.

Phoenix-based Aztar has become the target of a bidding war in part because it owns 34 acres of prime land on the Vegas Strip.

The new deal with Pinnacle, which started the bidding with an offer of $38 a share in March, also increases the break-up fees to $78 million from $65.6 million.

The Columbia Sussex offer expired Friday.