On Thursday, a division of Caesars Entertainment filed for bankruptcy. According to the LA Times, “The division, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co., owns and operates most of Caesars’ 50 properties worldwide.” Caesars officials said the casinos would remain open and few changes were expected while the company sorts out a reported $18.4 billion in debt.

CEO Gary Loveman was quoted in the Times as saying, “I am very confident in the future prospects of our enterprise, which will combine an improved capital structure with a network of profitable properties.”

Caesars owns and operates the World Series of Poker and its host casino, the Rio in Las Vegas. The WSOP is not affected by the bankruptcy filing, as it is part of Caesars Growth Partners. Also unaffected is the brand’s online poker arm, WSOP.com, which operates regulated, real money games in New Jersey and Nevada.

According to the Times, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. has more than 30,000 employees and its hotels include Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and Bally’s and Caesars in Atlantic City. There are a variety of possible outcomes, as the Times noted, “Caesars has been negotiating with creditors and lenders for months on a reorganization plan that would turn the division into a real estate investment trust, one to own properties and the other to lease properties, promising creditors cash or new debt.”

Motley Fool described how Caesars managed to get saddled with so much debt: “The start of the problems for Caesars came when TPG Capital and Apollo Global Management initiated a $30 billion buyout of the formerly named Harrah’s Entertainment in 2008. The private equity firms loaded the company with debtand when the financial crisis and recession hit, they were left scrambling just to stay afloat.” Smaller markets like Indiana and Iowa, according to Motley Fool, continue to suffocate the company.

Here’s a list of Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. owned properties, according to Motley Fool: Bally’s Atlantic City, Caesars Atlantic City, Caesars Palace Las Vegas, Harrah’s Gulf Coast, Harrah’s Council Bluffs, Harrah’s Joliet, Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Metropolis, Harrah’s North Kansas City, Harrah’s Philadelphia, Harrah’s Reno, Harvey’s Lake Tahoe, Horseshoe Bossier City, Horseshoe Council Bluffs, Horseshoe Hammond, Horseshoe Southern Indiana, Horseshoe Tunica, Hot Spot Oasis, Louisiana Downs, and Tunica Roadhouse.

According to Motley Fool, “The only desirable asset still under CEOC is Caesars Palace Las Vegas.”

Caesars has a separate division called Caesars Growth Partners, which was formed in 2013, is unaffected by the bankruptcy, and includes Bally’s Las Vegas, The Cromwell, Harrah’s New Orleans, Horseshoe Baltimore, Planet Hollywood, and the Linq. Caesars Entertainment Resort Properties like Flamingo Las Vegas, Harrah’s Atlantic City, Harrah’s Las Vegas, Harrah’s Laughlin, Paris Las Vegas, and the Rio are unaffected as well.

As you can see, Caesars reshuffled assets into several divisions, the seemingly most undesirable of which filed for bankruptcy. As Motley Fool put it, “Debtholders are arguing that assets moved into Caesars Growth Partners and Caesars Entertainment Resort Properties, the ‘good companies,’ are part of what they should be able to recover.”

We’ll keep you posted on the latest.

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