Penn National Gaming, Inc. ("PNG") owns and operates gaming and racing facilities. The Company presently operates 19 facilities in 15 jurisdictions, including Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ontario. Net revenues for the 12-month period ended March 31, 2008, were about $2.5 billion.
According to a news story, a shareholder has filed a securities class action lawsuit against PNG, alleging that upon the Defendant's merger and target date announcement and representations, the Company's stock, which had been trading in the mid to low 50s, jumped to over $63 per share.
Subsequently, According to the Complaint on July 3, 2008, shares of PNG fell to a new low, after the Company abruptly announced that its planned $5.82 billion takeover by Fortress Investment Group and Centerbridge Partners, L.P., has been terminated. The Complaint alleges that upon information and belief, sometime after PNG's merger announcement, while the company's stock was on the rise, the Company's family members and close associates began rapidly selling PNG's stock.
Consequently, the price of PNG's stock began to deteriorate. The Complaint accuses that in April, May, and June 2008, Penn National failed to disclose that it was negotiating the termination of the merger agreement and that the Company's omission or failure to disclose concerned one or more material facts. The Plaintiff alleges that Penn National made the omission knowingly, or with reckless disregard for the truth thereof, and with the intent to deceive or defraud.
Prior to even consolidation of the action, Plaintiffs have filed three iterations of their Complaint again the Defendants, the latest filed on September 23, 2008.
Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint on November 24, 2008. Before ruling on the motion, the Plaintiffs filed a new complaint.
On February 24, 2009 the judge referred back to Defendants' November 2008 motion for dismissal of the first Consolidated Complaint, granting it with prejudice. The Final Order of Dismissal permanently dismisses the case against Defendants.
