Caesars restructuring given greenlight by final regulator

dwide casino group Caesars Entertainment have today confirmed gaming regulators in Missouri and Louisiana have granted the necessary licences and regulatory approvals required to commence the companies long awaited reorganisation.

With the additions of Louisiana and Missouri, the companies have now received approvals from all necessary gaming authorities to merge both Caesars Acquisition Company & Caesars Entertainment Corporation into the larger firm of Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. Inc. These latest approvals add to those from regulators in Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

In Louisiana, Caesars owns and operates the Harrah’s New Orleans land-based casino, the Horseshoe Bossier City riverboat casino and the Harrah’s Louisiana Downs racetrack casino in Bossier City.

Caesars Entertainment Operating Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2015 after being reportedly over $24bn in debt. Under the terms of the United States Bankruptcy code in Illinois, where it filed for bankruptcy, the firm voluntarily agreed to reorganise as a way of: “significantly reduce long-term debt and annual interest payments, while providing for significant recoveries for creditors and ensuring no interruption of operations across the company's network of properties.”

It took Caesars a further two years to negotiate the terms of its restructuring with its creditors eventually receiving legal approval from Northern District of Illinois Judge Benjamin Goldgar in January 2017.

Since then the company has been locked in negotiations with officials in a number of states to receive the required approvals to commence this reorganisation, having previously gained approval from its 80% of its shareholders in 2015.

Upon completion of the merger, Caesars will continue running its gaming operations, while its real estate assets will be controlled by a real estate investment trust (REIT), created as part of the restructuring plan. Under the terms of the plan, the management of this real estate investment trust will be primarily handled by the firm’s major creditors.

As a whole, Caesars operates 47 casinos in 13 U.S. states and five countries.