Just six years after it was bought in a $17.3 billion deal, Caesars might be on the move again. According to the Financial Times, the company has received acquisition offers and one name that is courting the gaming giant is Tilman Fertitta, owner of Landry’s, Inc. and the NBA’s Houston Rockets.
As the FT noted, “Talks are ongoing but a transaction is far from a foregone conclusion.” A management-led buyout is also a possibility.
Fertitta, Donald Trump’s hand-picked US Ambassador to Italy, is one of the richest men in the world. His Landry’s Inc. is the parent company of the Golden Nugget chain of casinos and some of the best-known restaurant brands in the United States, including Joe’s Crab Shack, Rainforest Café, Houlihan’s, and Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.
Less than a year ago, Fertitta became the lead shareholder of Wynn Resorts. He bought land on the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue in 2022 with plans to build a casino resort on the Strip, but after becoming Wynn’s top shareholder, he scrapped the idea because of a conflict of interest.
As for Caesars, the company has been going through it. Its share price was just at a five-year low, dipping below $18 on February 12. They had regained a couple bucks since, but got a solid bump from yesterday’s news of the acquisition talks. On Thursday, shares in Caesars Entertainment closed up 19%, going from $20.77 to $24.74.
Naturally, losing tens of billions of dollars in market value makes Caesars a much more attractive purchase target.
This would be the second time Caesars would change hands in less than a decade. In a case of the smaller fish swallowing up the bigger one, Eldorado Resorts, Inc., bought Caesars Entertainment in 2020 for $17.3 billion. The new company kept the Caesars name, likely because of its brand recognition.
Prior to that, when it was called Harrah’s, the company was acquired by private equity firms Apollo and TPG in 2008.
The Financial Times believes that whoever, if anyone, buys Caesars would need sizeable financing from big banks because of Caesars’ large amounts of debt and “lease liabilities.” Over the years, Caesars has sold most of its real estate and now pays rent while continuing to operate the properties.
