Photo by Ryan Rudnansky
The largest casino company in the U.S., Caesars Entertainment Corp's operating company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Thursday, taking a big step toward shedding $10 billion in debt, according to Reuters via CNBC.com.
With the support of its senior noteholders, Caesars filed the protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Illinois, listing assets and liabilities of over $1 billion.
In addition to cutting its debt in half-knocking it down from $18.4 billion to just $8.6 billion-Caesars' plan is to split the operarting unit into a casino company and a separate real estate investment trust.
The massive debt is the result of a $30 billion buyout of Harrah's Entertainment by private equity firms Apollo Global Management and TPC Capital seven years ago just months before the economy took a downward spiral.
Despite Thursday's decision, it'll be business as usual for the company's 44 casinos as Caesars has said that the properties across its network will remain open throughout the reorganization process.
"Caesars is, in a certain sense, a Nevada version of 'too big to fail,'" said University of Nevada Las Vegas history professor Michael Green per the Associated Press.
Junior noteholders, who are set to receive less than 10 percent of the $5 billion they are owed, filed for involuntary bankruptcy against Caesars' operating company earlier this week in Delaware, where they are expected to request the case be moved.
However a majority of the company's holders are onboard with the plan already underway.
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