Caesars Entertainment Will be for Sale Imminently

Main Photo: The famous Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

Date: April 2019

Location: Mainly Las Vegas

Name: Caesars Entertainment – Harrah’s, Bally’s Hotels and others

No. of Keys: TBA

Seller: Carl Icahn prods Caesars Entertainment to sell itself….New Caesars CEO has a reputation for union busting. Caesars gives Carl Icahn three board seats as he presses for sale.

Caesars Entertainment is getting ready to put itself up for sale as soon as this week, The New York Post reports.

The $24 billion company plans to announce within days that its board has approved a sales process amid pressure from billionaire investor Carl Icahn.

The move comes as Caesars has finally agreed a second potential suitor into its “data room” to review its financials. Only one other suitor had checked out Caesars’ books previously.

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta, the owner of the Houston Rockets, was recently invited to conduct due diligence using the casino company’s records, sources said. This is a change from November when his merger offer was rebuffed due to a concern about the strength of the offer.

Caesars had previously given rival Eldorado Resorts, which owns the Tropicana in Atlantic City, access to its financial records, according to reports.

Caesars is valued at $5.6 billion on the Nasdaq stock market, but carries a whopping $18 billion in debt — giving it a valuation of $23.6 billion.

Icahn has been pushing for a sale since he first announced he was an investor in February, with a 10 percent stake. He has quickly become the company’s largest shareholder — amassing a 28.5 percent stake, including swaps.

Icahn, 83, has been advocating for a strategic buyer to take over and help turn around the company, which emerged from bankruptcy in 2017.

On Monday, Icahn’s control over Caesars is expected to grow even tighter with a fourth board seat, sources said. He presently has three board seats and has been promised an additional seat if the company does not get a permanent CEO by an April 15 deadline.

The Caesars board is now focused on cutting corporate expenses, as Icahn has demanded, two sources close to the situation said.

Caesars spent $332 million in corporate expenses for the year ended Dec. 31, 2018 and $202 million the prior year.

Caesars shares rose 3 percent Wednesday, to close at $9.05.

A Caesars spokesman declined to comment.

Buyer: Many contenders! Carl Icahn may partner up with Tilman Fertitta for Caesars bid.

Both Fertitta and Eldorado fit that bill: Fertitta runs five Golden Nugget casinos, including in Las Vegas and Biloxi, Miss., while Eldorado Resorts owns 26 properties across the country, including Circus Circus and Silver Legacy.

THPT Comment: Wow, the battle of the titans…at US$24bn!

First Seen: New York Post

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