Hedge Fund HG Vora pursues board seats at Penn Entertainment

Hedge fund HG Vora Capital Management has made a formal request to appoint directors to Penn Entertainment's board， as stated in a recent filing.

The fund， headed by former Goldman Sachs banker Parag Vora， holds an 18.5% economic interest in Penn Entertainment， inclusive of swaps.

Expressing concern about Penn's undervalued stock， HG Vora mentioned ongoing talks with the company's management， aiming to enhance shareholder value.

Penn Entertainment's stock has seen a decline of approximately 16% throughout 2023， although it surged by 4.8% during early trading after this disclosure.

The company recently collaborated with Quail Hollow Club and the Wells Fargo Championship to enter the North Carolina online sports betting market through ESPN Bet. 

However， Penn Entertainment released its financial report in Q3 2023， with a net loss of $725.1m compared to prior periods. Net revenue slightly decreased by 0.3% to $1.62bn. While the Northeast and Interactive segments showed improvements – the South，livestream poker West and Midwest segments experienced declines in various metrics.

In response to the financial report results， Penn Entertainment's CEO， Jay Snowden， stated: “We continued to see relative strength in several locations， including our casinos in Ohio， Kansas， Massachusetts and Missouri， which highlights the benefits of our geographically diversified portfolio of premier regional gaming assets and the addition of retail sports betting offerings at many of our properties.”