Political Illusions of the Cajun Mafia

Pinnacle purchased 517 acres in Baton Rouge for $24.5 million. Additionally, they purchased 58
acres with unstated partner that retains 16-2/3% of ownership.
Pinnacle leased an additional 234 acres from the Port of Lake Charles adjacent to L’Auberge for
$1.2 million with 5% increases annually. Pinnacle later purchased 50 acres from the Port for $5 million
but the specific location of the areas was not identified. Additionally, in 2008 Pinnacle purchased 56 acres
for “future opportunities”. The purchase price was not reported however, financial reports from the
company claim $5.2 million carrying value.
November 2007 the company entered into a construction agreement with W.G. Yates and Sons
Construction Company for construction of Sugarcane Bay for maximum $368 million and begun site work
and project “anchor” in 2008.
Pinnacle requested project completion deadline
extensions from LGCB on Feb 17, 2009 and December
15, 2009 extending the deadline to June 30, 2011.
Additionally, they requested to lower the minimum
construction cost requirements by $50 million. In
regards to the Baton Rouge development, the company
requested a deadline extension on October 2009 to
March 31, 2010.
According to the 2009 Pinnacle Annual Financial
Report the company indebtedness was $1.1 Billion. The
company states, “While we believe that we have
sufficient cash and cash-generating resources to meet our
debt service obligations during the next 12 months, it is uncertain in the future whether we will generate
sufficient cash flow from operations or through asset sales to meet our long-term debt service obligations.
Our present indebtedness and projected future borrowings could have important adverse consequences to
us.” During the fourth quarter of 2009, they listed their corporate jet for sale incurring an impairment
charge of $8.7 million as the carrying amount exceeded the actual fair value.
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