Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | October 2013 38 C aesars Entertainment plans to refinance US$4.85 in debt in a move designed to shift assets in the event of a bankruptcy filing. Bloomberg said the refinancing, consisting of a $3 billion term loan with a revolving credit facility and $1.85 billion of first- and second-lien notes and debentures, will be used to repurchase commercial mortgage-backed securities and a $450 million senior secured facility. Fitch Ratings notes that the heavily leveraged casino giant, the largest in the US, is refinancing debt through the Caesars Entertainment Resort Properties at the PropCo unit, while most of its more than $23 billion in debt is held by the operating unit, known as the OpCo. It amounts to a shifting of equity interests in subsidiaries that own properties such as the Octavius Tower at Caesars Palace and “Project Linq” in Las Vegas to another unit, which will be an issuer under the new financing, according to a corporate filing. “This was the next big maturity wall they had to address and it removes some of the overhang,” Fitch’s Alex Bumazhny told Bloomberg . “The overarching theme has been that the sponsors have found a way to solidify the PropCo entity, and to safeguard the online gaming assets, from a possible default at the operating company.” Caesars is more than 70% controlled by Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital, which purchased it in 2008 for $30 billion in the biggest leveraged private-equity buyout in gaming industry history. The company also is seeking to raise as much as $1.18 billion by offering shares in Shifting Interests Caesars gambles on refinancing and online poker Caesars Entertainment’s planned addition to the Vegas skyline, The LINQ, is an open-air retail, dining and entertainment district, anchored by the world’s tallest observation wheel, known as the High Roller.