After months of negotiations, Pinnacle Entertainment and Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. reached a definitive agreement Tuesday that will allow GLPI to acquire all of Pinnacle’s real estate assets.

Pinnacle’s assets consist of 14 properties across seven states, including L’Auberge Casino Resort in Lake Charles and L’Auberge Casino and Hotel in Baton Rouge.

GLPI will acquire the Pinnacle real estate for $4.75 billion and then lease the property back to the company through a 10-year agreement.

Pinnacle’s decision on the endeavor has been in the works for some time. The company originally announced plans to spin off its casinos into a real estate investment trust in 2014.  

Pinnacle President Carlos Ruizsanchez explained the process in a conference call Tuesday afternoon.

“We will spin off our operating company, which will include all of our current operations, along with the real estate associated with Belterra Park, Retama, and land we own not currently in use in Lake Charles and Baton Rouge,” Ruizsanchez said. “The remaining entity, which will have the real estate of our other 13 properties, will then be merged with GLPI in a $5 billion transaction.”

Ruizsanchez said the focus of the agreement is on shareholder value. The transaction will continue to make Pinnacle “a healthy operating company,” he said.

The transaction is expected to be final in early 2016, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.

Anthony Sanfilippo, CEO of Pinnacle Entertainment, said that for L’Auberge employees and guests, the agreement between the company and GLPI should go unnoticed.

“Those there in Lake Charles and at all of our properties, they won’t see any changes,” Sanfilippo said. “They will continue to be team members of Pinnacle Entertainment, and Pinnacle Entertainment will continue to operate the property on a very long-term agreement with GLPI. Our guests won’t see anything different.”

L’Auberge is situated on land operated by the Port of Lake Charles. Sanfilippo said that while this fact makes L’Auberge unique, the casino will still fall under the same guidelines of the agreement as other properties owned by Pinnacle.

Sanfilippo said Pinnacle has land outside of the port property that it has acquired over time and will continue to own, operate and develop.

“They’re purchasing our real estate and our assets, and then leasing them all back to us with the exception of both in Lake Charles, where we have about 50 acres that will be part of our portfolio, and in downtown Baton Rouge where we have acres that are adjacent to our property, that will still be owned by Pinnacle for us to develop,” Sanfilippo said.

He said the transaction will not affect the casino’s relationship with Pinnacle or the relationship guests have with the resort. “L’Auberge is and will continue to be our flagship property,” Sanfilippo said. “We have invested millions in the last couple of years in the location. It remains a premiere destination for people from all over the country.”

L’Auberge Casino Resort in Lake Charles, La.

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