River City Casino's Company is Blocked From Buying Ameristar

This article was written by Local Editor Tammy Duncan.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) plans to block the purchase of Ameristar Casinos, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Wednesday.   

Pinnacle Entertainment made a $2.8 billion bid to buy the St. Charles casino late last year. The FTC said that it would block the purchase because it would reduce competition since the deal would make Pinnacle the largest casino operator in the area. Pinnacle also owns River City Casino in Lemay and Lumiere Place in St. Louis.

If the deal were to go through, only three gaming operators would be operating in the St. Louis area. Penn National owns the Hollywood Casino in Maryland Heights, having purchased the casino from Harrah’s in November 2012. Penn also owns the Argosy Casino in Alton.   

The other gaming operator is East St. Louis’ Casino Queen.   

A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 28 on the matter. The FTC voted to seek a temporary restraining order, but a preliminary injunction may be needed to keep the Pinnacle/Ameristar deal from closing.