Caesars Entertainment is one of the world’s biggest gambling operators and entertainment companies. The company is expected to be officially placed on the market within the next few days.
Reports say that the board has plans to announce that it has approved the sales commencement process. This was mostly done because of the pressure done by billionaire Carl Icahn, one of its major investors.
The news of this sale was in response to the fact that it has admitted a potential buyer into its data room.
The potential buyer will have access to the company’s financial information to see whether Caesars is a good buy. Prior to this breaking news, only one potential buyer had carried out detailed talks about a possible sale and that was Eldorado Resorts, the owners of the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City.
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Now, Caesars has allowed Tilman Fertitta to review confidential data to make a potential offer. Fertitta already offered to buy Caesars back in 2018 but his offer to buy was refused mainly because Caesars management thought the offer was too low.
Publicly, Caesars is valued at $5.6 billion on the Nasdaq stock market. That price looks like a good purchase price but the potential buyer will have to take into account the $18 billion in debt that Caesars owes. The resulting total value is a whopping $23.6 billion.
Icahn and Fertitta Partnership
The Caesars sale is the culmination of Icahn’s constant push for it ever since he became one of Caesars’ key investors back in February. The billionaire bought 10 percent stake of Caesars at the start but later strategic purchases eventually allowed him to get a 28.5 percent stake in the company, making him the largest shareholder in the company.
Icahn’s reputation is that of a skilled buyer and seller of companies. He usually takes over and helps turn a company around to sell it further down the road. Many gaming analysts believe this is what he plans to do with Caesars.
Fertitta, who owns five Golden Nugget Casinos, would be a perfect buyer since he already has the experience of running a successful casino operation. Experts expect Icahn and Fertitta to team up and ensure that the next potential purchase offer will seal the deal. The chances of this are high since Icahn will soon receive a fourth board seat. He already has three and a promised fourth will be given to him if no permanent CEO has been chosen by April 15.
With four board seats, Icahn would then be able to promote his preferred strategy of cutting corporate expenses and selling Caesars Entertainment soon.
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