Caesars will let creditors control REIT but only if junior creditor lawsuits fail

Casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corp (CEC) has revised its restructuring deal to put creditors in charge of its main unit’s real estate holdings.

Over the weekend, CEC announced it had revised the deal it struck earlier this year with first-lien creditors of its bankrupt main unit Caesars Entertainment Operating Co (CEOC). On Monday, CEC revealed details of the new deal via a filing with the Securities Exchange Commission.

At its core, the deal remains the same: CEC plans to split CEOC into two parts: one company to run CEOC’s casino operations and a real estate investment trust (REIT) to own the land on which those casinos stand. Under the revised agreement, first-lien creditors would control the REIT’s board of directors.

The operating company running the CEOC casinos would pay the REIT an annual rent of $475m plus a further $165m per year for the land underneath CEOC’s marquee property in Las Vegas, Caesars Palace. The two leases would be for 15 years with additional five-year renewal options and contain escalator clauses that boost the agreed payments after an initial seven-year term.