Eldorado acquires Caesars Entertainment Corp. New Jersey gambling regulators have agreed to let Eldorado Resorts Inc., based in Nevada, acquire Caesars Entertainment Corp, creating the world’s largest casino company with a $17.3 billion buyout.
It comes after an antitrust analyst had told the New Jersey Casino Control Commission that the agreement affecting four of Atlantic City ‘s nine casino-resorts would not concentrate too much of the local gambling industry in the hands of one corporation.
Chairman James Plousis shared that he was satisfied after two days of hearings that Eldorado executives had been “honest about the challenges that lie ahead” and “acknowledged the importance of Atlantic City to their success.”
Eldorado is expected to close the deal in coming days, vaulting a company that began with a single family-owned casino-hotel in Reno, Nevada, in 1973 to the top of the gambling ownership world. It will have 52 properties in 16 U.S. states, including Las Vegas Strip casino-resorts like Caesars Palace, Paris Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood, Flamingo and Linq.
The buyout also affects Caesars properties in the United Kingdom, Egypt, Canada and a golf course in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau.
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn will be the largest single shareholder, with more than 10% of the combined company, Eldorado CEO Thomas Reeg said this week. Icahn acquired a large block of Caesars shares after the company emerged from bankruptcy protection in late 2017 and pushed for the sale.
Eldorado plans to buy Caesars stock at $12.30 per share, using $8.70 in cash and the remainder in Eldorado shares, Reeg told Nevada regulators. Eldorado will own 56% of the merged company, which will continue operations and stock trading under the name Caesars Entertainment Inc.
[image: Booking.com]
