It looks like Caesars may have finally squared the circle. According to press releases by the company and its myriad of subsidiaries both bankrupt and not bankrupt, all of the major creditor groups of Caesars Entertainment Operating Company (the “Bad Caesars” with all the debt) have agreed to a term sheet. Nothing has been signed yet, but they wouldn’t be putting out press releases of optimism unless they were sure they have already cleared the major hurdles.

In the words of the press release:

Representatives of the Ad Hoc groups of the First Lien Bank Lenders, the First Lien Noteholders, and Subsidiary Guarantee Noteholders, as well as the Official Committee of Second Lien Noteholders, have confirmed those creditors’ support for the term sheet, subject to the negotiation of and entry into definitive support agreements, and the Revised Plan of Reorganization to implement the agreed upon terms.

Before we get into exactly what Caesars did here in a mathematical sense, the following is what they did practically. First, they separated all the good assets from the toxic ones so creditors couldn’t get at anything with actual value. That we all know and have for some time. Second, they dithered and slithered in courts for years to completely wear down the other side in a litigation war of attrition, knowing that as long as they could keep the case open and the courts constipated worse than someone on 24-hour opiates who has eaten nothing but hay for a decade, they wouldn’t be forced to actually cough up anything. So they milked that as long as they could in a financial siege. That clock ran out when the   judge presiding over the case made an explicit threat to end the charade and force a deal not in Caesars’ favor if a voluntary deal was not reached by the end of September. It’s now the end of September, and it looks like we have one.