Caesars IPO plans revived
US casino giant reconsiders floating one year after dismissing the idea.
American casino operator Caesars Entertainment has revealed that it may revive plans for an initial public offering close to a year after cancelling its first planned float.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the company hopes to raise US$50m through the sale of shares, although the figure is reportedly subject to change.
The number is less than one tenth of what the company planned to raise last October when still known as Harrah’s Entertainment, and after changing its name the following month it eventually pulled plans to float on the basis of “adverse market conditions”.
Chief executive Gary Loveman recently expressed his hope that Caesars’ interactive division Caesars Interactive Entertainment could launch an online poker site within 12-14 months of US federal legislation passing, and the operator’s egaming deals in the past year have seen it enter France with Barrière and brought its WSOP brand to Italy through a deal with Microgame.
The online arm is headed up by former PartyGaming chief executive Mitch Garber (pictured), and saw its B2B deal with Dragonfish become the first approved partnership between a Nevada licensee and an egaming business when it got the green light from the Nevada State Gaming Control Board and Nevada Gaming Commission in March.