{"id":187474,"date":"2021-09-30T13:09:51","date_gmt":"2021-09-30T20:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=187474"},"modified":"2021-09-30T13:26:06","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T20:26:06","slug":"portnoy-says-penn-almost-won-cosmo-implies-process-was-corrupt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/portnoy-says-penn-almost-won-cosmo-implies-process-was-corrupt\/","title":{"rendered":"Portnoy Thought Penn Would Win Cosmo, Implies Bidding Process Wasn’t Fair"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barstool Sports <\/i>founder David Portnoy was fairly certain Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN) would emerge victorious in bidding for the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. But now he says the process to gain control of the plush Strip venue may not have been on the up and up.<\/p>\n

\"David
Barstool Sports founder David Portnoy said Penn National almost won the Cosmopolitan. He’s not convinced the bidding process was fair. (Image: Boston.com<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Monday, private equity giant Blackstone revealed it’s selling the integrated resort<\/a> for $5.65 billion to MGM Resorts International (NYSE:MGM) and a group of real estate investors. The latter consist of the Cherng Family Trust, Stonepeak Partners, and Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT). MGM is paying $1.6 billion for operational rights, while the property investors are doling out $4 billion.<\/p>\n

Early last month, when rumors regarding the sale of the Cosmopolitan intensified, Penn National was mentioned as a potential suitor.<\/a> But that rumor pegged them as a darkhorse contender relative to Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) and MGM. However, Portnoy says there was a time when he was fairly convinced Penn would win the glitzy venue.<\/p>\n

If you asked me at one point, ‘Were we going to have the Cosmo?’, I would have been, like, ’80 percent, yes,’\u201d said the Barstool founder on the latest episode of the \u201cDavid Portnoy Show with Eddie & Co.\u201d \u201cEvery sign was saying we were going to get it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Penn, the largest regional casino operator in the US, owns 36 percent of Barstool,<\/em> and can ultimately acquire the sports media property outright.<\/p>\n

Shady Dealings?<\/h2>\n

Never one to hold back, Portnoy overtly said on his podcast<\/a> that there \u201cmay have been shady (expletive) behind the scenes\u201d explaining why Penn was left scorned.
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