Eldorado Resorts Inc.’s $8.58 billion acquisition of Caesars Entertainment Corp. means an underdog from Reno, Nevada will become the largest owner of casinos in the U.S., including Harrah’s Casino and Racetrack in Chester, writes Christopher Palmeri for the Philadelphia Inquirer.
In the deal, Caesars shareholders will receive about $12.75 a share, including $8.40 in cash. That’s a 28 percent premium to the casino chain’s close on Friday.
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.
Besides the Chester casino, Caesars operates Harrah’s, Bally’s, and Caesars in Atlantic City, which will join Tropicana as Eldorado properties at the Shore.
While the combined company will retain the Caesars name, there’s no mistaking who’s buying whom in this transaction: Eldorado, with a market value of less than $4 billion, is clinching the giant from Las Vegas and its flagship Caesars Palace.
The Reno company is buying an ailing Caesars, still coping with the fallout of a 2008 leveraged buyout that left it with a mountain of debt.
Eldorado and Caesars said they have identified benefits of $500 million by combining the businesses.
Read more about the purchase here.
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