Caesars reveals new restructuring support plan with top lenders
Caesars Entertainment Corp. said late Friday it reached an "amended restructuring support agreement" with its largest lenders as the company attempts reduce the bulk of its gaming industry-high $22.8 billion in long-term debt.
In a statement filed just before midnight (PST), Caesars said the agreement "reaffirms" the support of the largest creditors for the restructuring of the company's largest operating division, which was placed into bankruptcy in January. The company did not reveal any new considerations it gave the lenders for renewed support.
The plan for the restructuring remains the same; Caesars is asking a federal bankruptcy judge in Chicago to convert Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. into a real state investment trust. The division, which has $18.4 billion in debt, controls Caesars Palace, Caesars Atlantic City, Harrah's Reno and more than a dozen regional properties. The restructuring is expected to trim almost $10 billion of debt from the books.
In July, Caesars struck an agreement with a group of its second-lien debt holders on the restructuring plan, which also includes folding another operating division, Caesars Growth Partners, back into the parent company.
"Today's agreement demonstrates Caesars Entertainment and CEOC's ongoing efforts to complete the restructuring of CEOC consensually and expeditiously," the company said in a statement.
Caesars was handed a setback last week when the bankruptcy judge said the company could not pursue a fast appeal to his ruling that allows bondholder lawsuits to proceed.
Caesars wants to overturn the ruling, saying four lawsuits by bondholders in New York and Delaware could push the entire Las Vegas-based company into bankruptcy.
Contact Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
