Tilman Fertitta is about to add a lot more hotels and casinos to his hospitality empire.
The business mogul’s Fertitta Entertainment has a deal to acquire the giant Caesars Entertainment in a deal valued at $17.6 billion, comprised of $5.7 billion in cash and $11.9 billion in assumed debt.
Las Vegas-based Caesars operates more than 50 U.S. resorts and casinos, including Caesars Palace, Harrah’s and Paris Las Vegas. It also runs dozens of restaurants in those venues including concepts by Gordon Ramsay and Bobby Flay.
According to its website, Caesars is the largest gaming company in the U.S. and has the largest loyalty program in the industry.
It will join Fertitta’s own massive portfolio of more than 550 dining and entertainment venues, including seven Golden Nugget casinos and restaurants like Rainforest Cafe, Del Frisco’s, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and dozens of other brands under the Landry’s umbrella. Fertitta also owns the Houston Rockets NBA franchise.
A press release on Thursday hailed the deal as a “transformational combination” of “two of the world’s premier hospitality and gaming companies.”
Fertitta Entertainment said it was particularly enthused about combining its Landry’s and Gold Nugget loyalty programs with Caesars Rewards, which it believes will create the leading loyalty system in the hospitality industry. After the deal closes, members will be able to access rewards at a wide variety of properties both in Vegas and elsewhere.
Caesars last year generated $11.5 billion in revenue, a 2.7% year-over-year increase. Its stock surged to all-time highs coming out of the pandemic, but has come back down to earth in recent years as Vegas tourism has slowed sharply. The sale price represented a 49% premium on Caesars’ share price as of Feb. 25, the day before rumors of a transaction began to circulate.
According to Forbes, Fertitta Entertainment did $5 billion in revenue last year.
The deal will be financed with equity from Fertitta Entertainment, assumed Caesars’ debt and new debt financing arranged by a group of 10 banks.
It would take Caesars private after trading on the NASDAQ since 1992. It includes a “go-shop” period that will allow Caesars to consider other offers before July 11.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.nrn.com ’
