Penn Entertainment to nominate new board members
The company intends to nominate Johnny Hartnett and Carlos Ruisanchez.
US.- Penn Entertainment has announced that it intends to nominate Johnny Hartnett and Carlos Ruisanchez for election to its board of directors. Following a review by the board’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the board will nominate them to fill two Class II director seats available for election at the 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.
Ron Naples is to retire, effective immediately, while Barbara Shattuck Kohn and Saul Reibstein will not stand for reelection.
The board said in a statement: “We look forward to benefitting from Johnny’s and Carlos’s fresh perspectives as we enter into a critical phase for the business. The board continues to believe there is significant opportunity for value creation at Penn, particularly within our Interactive segment. Johnny and Carlos bring critical expertise and experience in the gaming industry, across both digital and retail, that are aligned with the board’s priorities and are tailored to the opportunities in front of us.
“While we were unable to reach an agreement with HG Vora, we thank them for their input and look forward to continued engagement with all of our shareholders. We thank Ron, Saul and Barbara for their many years of distinguished service to the Board and our company and we are eager to begin working with our new directors to drive profitable growth for the benefit of all Penn shareholders.
Ruisanchez is the CEO of Sorelle Capital and president of Sorelle Hospitality, firms focused on investing and developing hospitality, consumer and real estate businesses. He served as president and CFO of Pinnacle Entertainment until its sale in 2018. Before joining Pinnacle, he was a senior managing director at Bear Stearns & Co, where he held various positions from 1997 to 2008. He is an independent board member of Cedar Fair Entertainment Company.
Hartnett joined the board of Superbet Group in January 2024 after serving as CEO between 2019 and 2023. He previously spent 20 years at Flutter Group, including as COO of Sportsbet (Australia) and MD of Paddy Power Betfair Online and Flutter International.
Penn Entertainment recently launched theScore Casino online casino app in Ontario. The app operates on the same proprietary technology platform as Penn’s Hollywood Casino, which launched as a standalone product in the US in December.
