Fertitta Entertainment Officially Acquiring Caesars for $17.6 Billion

^{Caesars Palace will remain the flagship property once regulators approve Fertitta Entertainment's acquisition. (Photo: courtesy of Caesars Entertainment)}

A new company is set to acquire Caesars Entertainment for the second time in less than 10 years. The company agreed to be acquired by Fertitta Entertainment in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $17.6 billion, announced Thursday.

This isn't exactly news, as rumors of this deal have been slowly leaking for a few weeks. Caesars' last acquisition was in 2020, when the company was taken over by Eldorado Resorts. 

The transaction also includes approximately $11.9 billion of Caesars' debt, valuing the company's assets at about $5.7 billion.

Caesars' 50 casinos, including eight on the Las Vegas Strip, will join Fertitta Entertainment's existing portfolio, which include Golden Nugget casinos, Landry's Inc., numerous non-casino hotels, the Houston Rockets and more. Tilman Fertitta, the company's owner, is also Wynn Resorts' largest individual shareholder with about 12.5% of the stock.

The deal also includes Caesars Digital, which encompasses online casinos and sports betting. More than 200 William Hill retail sportsbooks are also included in this deal.

What Changes for Caesars Rewards Members

Once the deal closes, Caesars Rewards members could have a much larger reach. In addition to reaching new casinos, the Fertitta empire includes more than 600 restaurants, plus hotels, amusement parks, aquariums, and entertainment venues.

Landry’s restaurants include Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., Rainforest Cafe, Chart House, and several steakhouse concepts. Many are featured at the Golden Nugget, while others, such as The Palm and Strip House, are already located at Caesars Palace and Planet Hollywood, respectively. 

There will likely be more changes for Golden Nugget’s 24k Rewards program than Caesars Rewards, but those changes are much farther down the line. The priority for now is closing the deal before either loyalty program sees any meaningful changes.

Don’t Expect a Quick Turnaround

While this deal is agreed to, Caesars can seek competing bids through July 11. That appears unlikely, but it's part of the formal announcement.

Don't expect to see major changes any time soon. The deal is pending regulatory approval, which could take more than a year. For comparison, the previous deal between Eldorado Resorts and Caesars took nearly 13 months to close.

Current leadership at Caesars will likely remain in place. CEO Tom Reeg, CFO Bret Yunker, President Anthony Carano, and other members of the current corporate management team are expected to remain in their roles at the combined company. The company is also planning to keep property-level management and personnel.

This could also be finalized a little more quickly than the Eldorado merger, since there are fewer Golden Nugget casinos for regulators to consider. The crossover casino markets include:

• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Lake Tahoe, Nevada
• Laughlin, Nevada
• Atlantic City, New Jersey
• Biloxi, Mississippi
• Lake Charles, Louisiana

Properties in each market could be sold if regulators determine the combined company would create a monopoly in the area.

Impact on Las Vegas Casinos

Together, Fertitta and Caesars would control nine Las Vegas casinos. It will likely have to sell at least one of its of those casinos to receive approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission. 

Which property is sold could depend on regulators or the new company's vision.

Selling the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas could make sense if the company wants to consolidate its focus on its eight Strip properties.

Alternatively, at least one Strip casino could be sold if the company wants to maintain a downtown presence. Flamingo and Planet Hollywood are speculated to be potential candidates for the sale.

Downtown Las Vegas could see sportsbook consolidation if the company keeps the Golden Nugget. The property currently operates its own sportsbook using IGT technology, but that will likely change to a Caesars sportsbook if the company keeps the property. 

Caesars currently operates the sportsbook at Downtown Grand, which could be sold soon. William Hill, owned by Caesars, operates four other downtown sportsbooks.

While Caesars no longer owns the World Series of Poker, it holds the exclusive rights to host the flagship WSOP live tournament series at its Las Vegas casinos for 18 more years. That arrangement will now carry over to Fertitta Entertainment or whichever entity that ends up owning those properties.