CAESARS

choice assets such as The Linq hotel and Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas and leaving it bankrupt.

Caesars, Apollo and TPG have denied any wrongdoing, but a court-appointed examiner found they could be on the hook for up to $5.1 billion in claims.

To settle the allegations Caesars has offered to pitch about $4 billion into Caesars Entertainment Operating Co.’s reorganization in exchange for releases from the claims. Goldgar asked Friday why Apollo and TPG were not also contributing, saying the injunctions had provided them “a comfortable free ride” on Caesars Entertainment Operating Co.’s “coattails.”

Both Caesars and Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. said they were disappointed. The court’s refusal to extend the shield puts Caesars’ “substantial contribution” to CEOC’s reorganization plan “at serious risk,” a Caesars spokesman said in an email.

Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. lawyers said they would appeal.

“It would be hard to reverse Goldgar without dramatically expanding the availability of third-party releases, something that would be out of step with the standards in other circuits,” said Douglas Baird, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School.