Caesars Entertainment, the Las Vegas casino-owner and live betting giant, has today begun a £2.9bn takeover of British bookmaker William Hill.
- Caesars Palace Ownership
- Nobu Caesars Palace Las Vegas
- Who Bought Caesars Palace
- Caesars Palace Ownership History
William Hill has also received a takeover approach from US private equity firm Apollo – although further details regarding this bid have not been revealed. Also, Caesars Entertainment announced that if William Hill were chose Apollo, it would jeopardise a joint venture between the companies.
The Caesars Palace owner intends to find other owners for William Hill's non-US businesses, including its more than 1,400 UK betting shops. It said it would integrate the US business into Caesars. William Hill Agrees $2.9bn Takeover By Caesars Palace-Owner Shaheer Ansari September 30, 2020 0 Comment 0 1 Caesars Entertainment, the Las Vegas casino-owner, has struck a £2.9bn deal to take over UK betting firm William Hill.
Caesars Palace Ownership
Caesars Entertainment already owns a 20% stake in William Hill's US operations, which also have exclusive rights to operate sports betting under the Caesars brand. William Hill's US bookmaking business currently has more than 150 retail sites across 13 American states.
Caesars Entertainment CEO Tom Reeg said: 'The opportunity to combine our land based-casinos, sports betting and online gaming in the US is a truly exciting prospect. William Hill's sports betting expertise will complement Caesars' current offering, enabling the combined group to better serve our customers in the fast growing US sports betting and online market.'
William Hill's share price rose by 42% to 312p following the takeover approach.
Caesars Palace in the early years. It opened on August 5, 1966 at a cost of $24 million, and was unlike anything Las Vegas had seen. With fountains and pools and employees in Roman-themed uniforms, it was an immediate hit, and set the standard for the themed-hotels that are so common in Sin City today. Caesars Entertainment, the Las Vegas casino-owner, has struck a £2.9bn deal to take over William Hill. The boards of the US firm and William Hill agreed a cash offer of 272p a share, compared with 273p at the start of Wednesday trading, subject to shareholders voting in favour. Caesars Entertainment, the Las Vegas casino-owner, says it is in advanced takeover talks with William Hill over a possible £2.9bn bid for the bookmaker. The US firm said William Hill's board had.
Industry reaction
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘'Caesars Entertainment is taking a big bet that this takeover will help it create a mega gambling and gaming group, combining its huge land based casinos with William Hill's market leading and rapidly expanding share in the US sports betting market. Bovada customer review.
'The shares have dipped as detail of the deal were released today, but they had jumped by a third on Friday when it seemed William Hill could be subject to a bidding war, with alternative asset manager Apollo also interested.
Roulette street bet. 'William Hill's board has now indicated to Caesars that they would be minded to recommend a £2.9bn cash offer, at what the company describes as a ‘compelling price.' The deal would see William Hill shareholders receive 272p per share, a 25% premium to the closing price on September 24th, prior to any announcements.
'Although William Hill's online proposition lags behind some of its rivals, it's been focused on the US for some time and boasts a 29% share of the US sports betting market. Caesar's clearly sees vast potential for online betting, given the entertainment giant's extensive relationship with dozens of big US sports teams.
'The pandemic severely disrupted large sports fixtures, and the closure of betting shops during lockdown had a severe effect on William Hill's revenues in the first six months of the year. However, the deal, if it's approved, isn't expected to close until the second half of 2021 at a time when the sporting calendar on both sides of the Atlantic is expected to be back in full swing.''
A casino juggernaut was formed Monday when Eldorado Resorts announced it is buying Caesars in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $17.3 billion.
The acquisition will put about 60 casino-resorts in 16 states under a single name, Caesars, creating the largest gambling operator in the United States. Top rated online casinos. The deal — following pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn — is targeted to close in the first half of 2020 if approved by gambling regulators and shareholders.
It would open the doors of the Las Vegas Strip market to Eldorado.
'We are incredibly excited. This is an iconic brand,' Eldorado CEO Tom Reeg said referring to Caesars Entertainment during a conference call. 'It's really a level of property and brand that we have not had the great fortune to control and now we will.'
Eldorado will pay $8.40 per share in cash and 0.0899 shares of Eldorado stock for each Caesars share, or $12.75 per share. The transaction values Caesars at about $8.6 billion, and Eldorado will pick up about $8.8 billion of the casino's debt.
Nobu Caesars Palace Las Vegas
Shareholders of Eldorado Resorts Inc. will hold about 51% of the company's outstanding stock, with Caesars Entertainment shareholders holding the remaining and 49%.
The company will be led by Reeg, along with Eldorado Chairman Gary Carano. It will be headquartered in Reno, Nevada, where Eldorado is based, and have a significant corporate presence in Las Vegas, where Caesars is based.
The deal was months in the making. Icahn earlier this year revealed he had amassed an enormous stake in Caesars Entertainment and pushed for fundamental changes at the company, including board representation and a say in the replacement of the then-CEO. He argued that the company's stock was undervalued and the best way to boost it would be to sell the company.
Caesars Entertainment Corp., which operates more than 30 casinos in the U.S., emerged from bankruptcy protection in late 2017, but it's been struggling since.
Icahn in April appointed Caesars Entertainment's current CEO, Tony Rodio, who had the same role at the billionaire's Tropicana Entertainment, which was sold to Eldorado in 2018. He also got to pick board members.
It would open the doors of the Las Vegas Strip market to Eldorado.
'We are incredibly excited. This is an iconic brand,' Eldorado CEO Tom Reeg said referring to Caesars Entertainment during a conference call. 'It's really a level of property and brand that we have not had the great fortune to control and now we will.'
Eldorado will pay $8.40 per share in cash and 0.0899 shares of Eldorado stock for each Caesars share, or $12.75 per share. The transaction values Caesars at about $8.6 billion, and Eldorado will pick up about $8.8 billion of the casino's debt.
Nobu Caesars Palace Las Vegas
Shareholders of Eldorado Resorts Inc. will hold about 51% of the company's outstanding stock, with Caesars Entertainment shareholders holding the remaining and 49%.
The company will be led by Reeg, along with Eldorado Chairman Gary Carano. It will be headquartered in Reno, Nevada, where Eldorado is based, and have a significant corporate presence in Las Vegas, where Caesars is based.
The deal was months in the making. Icahn earlier this year revealed he had amassed an enormous stake in Caesars Entertainment and pushed for fundamental changes at the company, including board representation and a say in the replacement of the then-CEO. He argued that the company's stock was undervalued and the best way to boost it would be to sell the company.
Caesars Entertainment Corp., which operates more than 30 casinos in the U.S., emerged from bankruptcy protection in late 2017, but it's been struggling since.
Icahn in April appointed Caesars Entertainment's current CEO, Tony Rodio, who had the same role at the billionaire's Tropicana Entertainment, which was sold to Eldorado in 2018. He also got to pick board members.
'While I criticized the Caesars Board when I took a major position several months ago, I would now like to do something that I rarely do, which is to praise a board of directors for acting responsibly and decisively in negotiating and approving this transformational transaction,' Icahn said in a prepared statement Monday. 'As a combined company, Caesars and Eldorado will be America's preeminent gaming company.'
The bankruptcy reorganization led to the creation of the real estate investment trust VICI Properties Inc. It owns the buildings and land of more than 20 casino-resorts, including Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip, and leases the operations back to casino operators.
Eldorado said Monday that it also reached an agreement with VICI Properties Inc. in which VICI will acquire the real estate associated with Harrah's Resort Atlantic City, Harrah's Laughlin Hotel and Casino located about 100 miles (161 km) south of Las Vegas, and Harrah's New Orleans Hotel and Casino for approximately $1.8 billion.
Caesars operates three casinos in Atlantic City and Eldorado operates one.
Other terms of the deal include VICI being given right of first refusals for whole asset sale or sale-leaseback transactions on two Las Vegas Strip properties and the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore.
Reeg told analysts and investors the company expects to sell some properties that may allow it to avoid federal anti-trust issues. It is also evaluating whether to sell properties on the Strip.
Who Bought Caesars Palace
'As I sit here today, I tell you, I think that there's more Strip exposure than we would need to accomplish our goals with our regional database,' he said. 'So, I would expect that we would be a seller of a Strip asset, but that decision has not been made.'
Caesars Palace Ownership History
It is uncertain whether the new company will venture into Japan, where major casino operators have set their sights after the nation legalized casino gambling last year. Reeg said 'no firm decisions' have been made on the international market, but the opportunity would have to be 'stupendous for us to be running in that direction.'
Caesars' stock jumped 16% Monday, while shares of Eldorado fell 10%.
___
Follow Regina Garcia Cano on Twitter at https://twitter.com/reginagarciakNO
