Parent organization Penn National Gaming | ||
Headquarters Alton, Illinois, United States | ||
History
The company through the political connections of its chairman William F. Cellini received the first gambling license in Illinois in modern times. It began operations in September, 1991 with the opening of the Alton Belle Casino. Among the biggest initial investors was John Connors, brother of tennis champion Jimmy Connors, Illinois attorney and Democratic power-broker L. Thomas Lakin, as well as other influential St. Louis area businessmen. Jimmy Connors would later become a substantial investor with both brothers maintaining a 19 percent share after it went public. It traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "AGSY. The company toyed with bankruptcy in the late 1990s with John Connors personally declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
In November 2004, Penn National Gaming acquired it for $2.2 billion in cash creating the third largest casino operator in the United States.