Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment names CEO

Staff and wire reports

Monday, March 15, 2010 | 8:15 a.m.

Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas said Monday that it named former Multimedia Games Inc. executive Anthony M. Sanfilippo as CEO and president.

Sanfilippo, 51, takes over from interim CEO John V. Giovenco, who will remain as a board member of the casino operator.

Giovenco took the post in November after Dan Lee resigned after comments he made during a St. Louis County Council meeting after the council approved a zoning request by a potential competitor. Missouri gaming regulators later found Lee did not violate any state laws or gaming regulations.

Richard J. Goeglein, who was tapped as interim nonexecutive chairman in November, will now take on that role permanently.

Sanfilippo is the former CEO, president and board member of electronic gaming supplier Multimedia Games. He has also served as president of the central and western divisions at Harrah's Entertainment Inc.

Pinnacle said Sanfilippo will buy 125,000 shares of its common stock at Friday's closing price of $8.64 per share. He was also given options to buy 650,000 shares at $8.64 per share. The options vest over five years and have a 10-year term.

Most of Sanfilippo's compensation is tied to the company's future performance, Pinnacle said.

Also, Multimedia Games, of Austin, Texas, which develops electronic gambling devices used in casinos and bingo parlors, said Monday that it is exploring strategic options that may include a potential sale of the company.

The company also named Chief Operating Officer Patrick Ramsey as its interim CEO after Sanfilippo resigned to take on the same role at Pinnacle Entertainment Inc.

Sanfilippo will remain on Multimedia's board.

Ramsey, 36, has served as COO since September 2008.

Multimedia also appointed board member Stephen Greathouse as vice chairman and chairman of a special committee that will look at the company's strategic options.

It has hired Deutsche Bank Securities as its exclusive financial adviser to help review its strategic alternatives.

Multimedia Games has approximately 16,000 gambling units in operation domestically and internationally installed on revenue-sharing arrangements. Multimedia Games also supplies the central system for about 12,500 video lottery terminals installed at racetracks in the state of New York.