Casino operator Eldorado acquires Caesars for $8.6 billion

The merger of Eldorado and Caesars creates the largest casino operator in the USA. But shareholders don’t like the deal at all.

New York, DüsseldorfIn the USA, two casino operators merge to form the largest player in the country. Eldorado Resorts takes over the competitor Caesars Entertainment for a total of 8.6 billion dollars in cash and shares. Including debts, the value of the transaction amounts to 17.3 billion dollars. This creates the most extensive gambling group in the USA.

The name of the new group will remain Caesars. When the takeover is completed, Eldorado will hold 51 per cent and Caesars 49 per cent of the new company.

Caesars owns around 50 casinos in 13 US federal states and five countries, including the legendary “Caesars Palace” in Las Vegas. Caesars has been officially looking for a buyer for two months. The activist investor Carl Icahn is one of the proponents of the sale. He holds almost 30 per cent of the casino operator and has long put pressure on the company to sell.

The company is still suffering from the consequences of a 2008 buyout by investors Apollo Global Management and TPG. The high level of debt led to the insolvency of the most important subsidiary in 2015.

The Eldorado, which emerged in 1973 from a casino in Reno, Nevada, has grown strongly in recent years under CEO Tom Reeg, also through takeovers. The largest shareholder continues to be the founding family Carano. The company owns 26 casinos in twelve US states.

However, the planned takeover causes Eldorado to suffer heavy price losses. At the start of trading in the USA on Monday, shares fell by a good seven per cent. Caesars shares, on the other hand, gained about 15 per cent. The shares of the casino operator Wynn advanced 0.7 per cent in the slipstream.