Eldorado’s $17.3B Caesars deal done
Merged company expected to cut more staff
Though it took more than a year to close the deal, Eldorado Resort Inc.’s $17.3 billion acquisition of Caesars Entertainment Corp. is finally done, triggering a new flurry of layoffs.
Most of the jobs executives had at Caesars gave way to their Eldorado counterparts at the close, the company’s chief operating officer said Monday.
“We’ve gone through unprecedented times over the last few months, but we remained enthused and optimistic about the possibility of this transaction and about the potential of the new company and we’ve never wavered in our determination to get to the finish line,” said Anthony Carano, whose Reno-based family has formed the nation’s largest casino company by closing on the deal.
The newly formed company will be called Caesars Entertainment
Corp. and the public company stock will be traded using the CZR ticker symbol on the Nasdaq exchange starting Tuesday.
The new Caesars also will keep many of the traditional Caesars brands and use them as needed across the country, where it will operate 52 properties in 16 states. The company also owns resorts in foreign countries, some with casinos. Caesars-branded properties operate in Canada, Egypt, South Africa, Great Britain and Dubai.
More layoffs
Carano said he didn’t have an official head count of how many were laid off following the final regulatory approval the deal needed from the New Jersey Casino Control Commission on Friday.
According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Eldorado had 15,500 employees as
of the end of 2019, while Caesars had 64,000.
In April Caesars announced it would furlough roughly 90 percent of its employees at domestic-owned properties, as well as corporate staff.
The combined company is expected to cut even more staff, gaming industry watchers say.
“The new Caesars’ focus will be at the property level and tighten up the corporate structure,” said Brendan Bussmann, director of government affairs for Global Market Advisors LLC. “As with any merger, integrating two teams is
one that takes planning and making sure you not only have the best and the brightest but putting forward the best team on the field that will deliver for Caesars.”
Bussmann doesn’t expect to see any immediate changes at the property level due to the merger, but said layoffs based on current market demand and the economy would be more likely.
Carano said Eldorado’s decentralization philosophy will place more decision-making in the hands of the local operators and a greater emphasis on customer service at each property.
One of the first areas of integration will be placing the company’s Caesars Rewards loyalty club in every
Eldorado casino.
“Caesars has an incredible program with Caesars Rewards — the best rewards program in all of gaming,” Carano said. “We bring around 12 million more players to the database so there’s 60 million to 65 million people to show off these incredible Nevada properties.”
Tuesday, Eldorado, now known as Caesars Entertainment, will take possession of the CZR ticker symbol.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702477-3893. Follow @Rickvelotta on Twitter. Review-journal staff writer reporter Bailey Schulz contributed to this report.