Casino operator Boyd Gaming Corporation said Wednesday that it plans to buy Peninsula Gaming, the owner of multiple Midwestern and Southern casinos, for some $1.45 billion.
The deal, funded with $200 million in cash and roughly $1.2 billion in debt, adds five casinos to Las Vegasbased Boyd’s existing portfolio of 16 gambling venues scattered across the country.
Morrison & Foerster is advising Boyd on the transaction with a team that includes corporate partner Brandon Parris, financial transactions partner Kathryn Johnstone, tax partners Stephen Feldman and Remmelt Reigersman, executive compensation partner Michael Frank, employment partner Eric Akira Tate, real estate partner Peter Aitelli, technology transactions partner Paul Jahn and antitrust partner Jeff Jaeckel. The firm previously represented the company on its unsuccessful bid for assets owned by the bankrupt Las Vegasbased Station Casinos.
Brian Larson serves as general counsel for Boyd, which also owns half of the Borgata Hotel Casino in Atlantic City. The company’s executive chairman, William Boyd, is a lawyer who cofounded the company in 1974 with his father. Thomas Girardi, a founding partner of Los Angelesbased Girardi & Keese, serves on the Boyd board.
Elizabeth Tranchina is the vice president of legal affairs and corporate compliance officer for Dubuque, Iowabased Peninsula. Information on whether the company relied on outside counsel in connection with the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of the year, was not immediately available.
