Saul Reibstein, CFO of Penn National Gaming, announced his retirement today, leaving an empty chair, not in his office, but in the office of the person named to replace him.
William Fair, previously Penn’s executive vice president and chief development officer, was made the new CFO, and the company said it has begun a search for Fair’s replacement.
At least one gaming analyst said the change was a surprise, but not out of the ordinary.
“Yes, it was relatively unexpected,” said John DeCree, an analyst with Union Gaming Group. “I don’t think anyone was expecting Saul to retire, but it’s looking like the normal course for a retirement. There’s nothing unusual anybody was thinking about it.”
Reibstein had been Penn National’s CFO since 2013, and Fair had been the chief development officer since 2014. Penn said Reibstein will remain with Penn in a transitional position until the middle of next year.
Penn, owners of the M Resort in Henderson and the Tropicana, also announced today it received a repayment of approximately $274 million of capital it had lent to an affiliate of the Jamul Indian Village of California to help fund of the construction of the Hollywood Casino Jamul-San Diego.
The company said it plans to use the money to pay down its debt. Once it does, DeCree said Penn will be on par with other gaming companies in the amount of debt it is carrying.