Caesars offers creditors another $1.2b, would spell end of hedge fund ownership

Casino operator Caesars Entertainment has improved its offer to junior creditors to over $5b, but the offer is only good until Friday.

On Wednesday, Caesars added an extra $1.2b to the $4b it had already offered junior bondholders of Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. (CEOC), the main unit of Caesars that filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2015, citing $18.4b in debt.

The total amount that the parent company is offering junior creditors now exceeds the $5.1b that an independent examiner determined the parent was liable for if these creditors were to prevail in their lawsuits in Delaware and New York.

Most of the additional $1.2b is coming from Caesars’ hedge fund owners, Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital, who have agreed to give up their equity in Caesars in exchange for releasing them from liability related to those creditor lawsuits.