Eldorado Resorts to acquire Caesars Entertainment in cash and stock deal

Eldorado Resorts, now officially the world’s largest gambling company, have announced new layoffs after signing off on an agreement to acquire Caesars Entertainment for $17.3 billion in a cash and stock deal.

Eldorado will offer $7.2 billion in cash and around 77 million stock shares. It will also take on Caesars Entertainment outstanding debt. Shareholders will wind up with 51% of the combined company. The integration deal will result, however, in several job losses and possibly in the sale of at least one Las Vegas strip property – in a move that is designed to reassure the Federal Trade Commission and regulators in Indiana and New Jersey after they had raised concerns about antitrust issues.

Talking to the , the Group Chief Financial Officer, Bret Yunker, said: “We have not decided yet how many jobs will be cut, and where the jobs will be cut, however with the integration of the two companies, it’s unavoidable that there will be some job reductions – reducing the scale of labor is always challenging, we will focus on creating the largest merger effect and we promise to be as transparent and empathetic as possible.”

The new Caesars Group, which will retain the Caesars name and stock code, now operates in more than 55 casinos in 16 states across the United States, including 8 resorts on the Las Vegas Strip. Quoted in World Gaming Information about the name change, Bret Yunker said: ‘Caesars is a classic brand in the gaming industry, which is why Eldorado is willing to change its name, because there is no better name in the gaming industry.’ The group expects that the combination of assets from the two groups will enable the new brand to support and possibly reopen casinos which succumbed to closure due to the public health crisis. Bret Yunker also stated: ‘Our Bally’s hotel will soon restart and we have been doing our best to assist our employees to go back to work.” At present, Caesars Entertainment group has approximately 30,000 employees in casinos and approximately 65,000 employees worldwide. Eldorado has approximately 18,000 employees. Their three famous hotels and casinos, including Planet Hollywood Hotel, The Rio Hotel and Cromwell Hotel all remain closed and have not resumed operations. Bret Yunker went on to emphasize that the group is very optimistic about the future of the gambling industry. Despite current difficulties due to the public health pandemic, he believes that once this surreal period passes, they will be back on track – which is why, as he says, Eldorado never considered abandoning the merger agreement.

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