Ceasers spinning off online gaming as well as PH and a Baltimore Casino/Hotel being built

[ftpjesus]

Dont know how this missed the newsfeeds out there. Just stumbled across this and the article is 2 weeks old .. Apparently Ceaser's is going to be spinning off and setting up a completely seperate online gaming division which will also be the parent company for Planet Hollywood in Vegas and a yet to be named venture near Baltimore Maryland.. Very interesting indeed. SEC filing states its seeking to raise 1.2B through the spinoff..

Heres the article:

LAS VEGAS — Caesars Entertainment is taking steps to spin off its online gambling venture into a separate company.

The casino operator said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Wednesday that it plans to raise $1.2 billion by selling stock in the company.

The new company would also include the Planet Hollywood hotel-casino and a Baltimore casino under development.

Caesars plans to launch an online gambling site in Nevada in the coming months, and it already operates sites abroad.

The company said in its regulatory filing that it is “actively participating in the U.S. lobbying effort” to expand legalized online gambling beyond the three states where it is currently permitted, Nevada, New Jersey and Delaware.

Once the world’s largest gambling operator, Caesars has struggled with debt recently. It’s the only major U.S. casino company without a presence in the Chinese gambling enclave of Macau.

The company posted a smaller loss last quarter but still missed expectations.

Rivals Wynn and Las Vegas Sands posted big quarterly gains, helped by their lucrative Macau resorts.

Caesars operates 10 Strip casinos including Caesars Palace, the Flamingo and Bally’s. It also controls several dozen casinos throughout the country.

[DJ_Chaps]

Hmmm, been a fan of the stock for ages. Curious to see how it reacts on Monday.

[4Dragons]

I.P. O.h hell yeah

[NaturalBornHustler]

Casino being built is old news, I have talked about it before here.

What does the online shit mean for someone living in Baltimore....like myself?

[garrett]

Sounds like this will be what is now their "Caesers Interactive" division.

After digging a little deeper it is not hard to find that Caesers does not plan to use 888 as a long-term software provider at all. Under this Caesers Interactive divisions umbrella they have bought a not so well known France poker site called "Barrière Poker". They apparently have web developers redesigning it now, so that in the not so distant future they can launch it as their own stand alone platform. Presumably as part of this new venture here. Which basically means, so long 888. Caesers also thinks 888 will have a tough time with licensing in future states that decide to legalize internet gambling, like Illinois.

This IPO's valuation would be very interesting.

[4Dragons]

Sounds like this will be what is now their "Caesers Interactive" division.

After digging a little deeper it is not hard to find that Caesers does not plan to use 888 as a long-term software provider at all. Under this Caesers Interactive divisions umbrella they have bought a not so well known France poker site called "Barrière Poker". They apparently have web developers redesigning it now, so that in the not so distant future they can launch it as their own stand alone platform. Presumably as part of this new venture here. Which basically means, so long 888. Caesers also thinks 888 will have a tough time with licensing in future states that decide to legalize internet gambling, like Illinois.

This IPO's valuation would be very interesting.

Pretty good post garrett, but I think I missed the point of why 888 is corporation non-grata? I thought they were playing great over there?

[Goodpoop]

Casino being built is old news, I have talked about it before here.

What does the online shit mean for someone living in Baltimore....like myself?

Just moved to Maryland so I need gambling.

[JSTAT]

I think Caesars Entertainment is forming this spinoff in preparation of a possible bankruptcy. I tweeted this in May as a response to a Howard Stutz article on Caesars on Pokerati's site on May 9 on my Twitter page https://twitter.com/Casino_Examiner

"Is Caesars Entertainment positioning for bankruptcy? Owners TPG/Apollo with Dan Gilbert @cavsdan forming a spin-off! http://pokerati.com/2013/05/caesars-...nted-spin-off/ …"

[garrett]

Sounds like this will be what is now their "Caesers Interactive" division.

After digging a little deeper it is not hard to find that Caesers does not plan to use 888 as a long-term software provider at all. Under this Caesers Interactive divisions umbrella they have bought a not so well known France poker site called "Barrière Poker". They apparently have web developers redesigning it now, so that in the not so distant future they can launch it as their own stand alone platform. Presumably as part of this new venture here. Which basically means, so long 888. Caesers also thinks 888 will have a tough time with licensing in future states that decide to legalize internet gambling, like Illinois.

This IPO's valuation would be very interesting.

Pretty good post garrett, but I think I missed the point of why 888 is corporation non-grata? I thought they were playing great over there?

It is not that they are not welcome. The problem is, some States are drafting legislation so rigid like IL, it would eliminate even the possibility, of any foreign operating company in their State period who offered online poker/gambling to U.S residents before. Caesers is aware of this and realizes given the State model with a fragmented market, 888 wouldn't be a shoe in if certain States had legislation with any type of poison pill. So moving forward, they realize with a State by State model, 888 wouldn't work everywhere. That's the main "non-grata" issue.

Having said that, 888 is a great company it seems, just have a look at their stock price on the LSE. Although I have never seen the balance sheets or done any research, pretty sure its not bad given that price. They also have an OTC (EIHDF) offering here, but its so thinly traded. Having said that, I would steer away from 888 in terms of an OTC investment when it comes to wanting to get in on this emerging market. I actually lean towards bwin.party. Early on people don't all realize, The Borgata is a serious player, and bwin.party has it. They also left the U.S market because of UIGEA in 2006 for this very reason, making themselves very well positioned to have few issues getting licensed. That stock is trading at only $1.98 as opposed to 888 @ $2.43 with a somewhat limited outlook imo, considering Caesers has publicly stated they plan to go their own direction. So I did not mean 888 was a bad corporation, as much as I don't think they are a great play given all of that over the long term. Bwin could be a steal.

Forgot to mention Caesers Interactive would be the play obv. This is also probably a deleveraging move.

[4Dragons]

Pretty good post garrett, but I think I missed the point of why 888 is corporation non-grata? I thought they were playing great over there?

It is not that they are not welcome. The problem is, some States are drafting legislation so rigid like IL, it would eliminate even the possibility, of any foreign operating company in their State period who offered online poker/gambling to U.S residents before. Caesers is aware of this and realizes given the State model with a fragmented market, 888 wouldn't be a shoe in if certain States had legislation with any type of poison pill. So moving forward, they realize with a State by State model, 888 wouldn't work everywhere. That's the main "non-grata" issue.

Having said that, 888 is a great company it seems, just have a look at their stock price on the LSE. Although I have never seen the balance sheets or done any research, pretty sure its not bad given that price. They also have an OTC (EIHDF) offering here, but its so thinly traded. Having said that, I would steer away from 888 in terms of an OTC investment when it comes to wanting to get in on this emerging market. I actually lean towards bwin.party. Early on people don't all realize, The Borgata is a serious player, and bwin.party has it. They also left the U.S market because of UIGEA in 2006 for this very reason, making themselves very well positioned to have few issues getting licensed. That stock is trading at only $1.98 as opposed to 888 @ $2.43 with a somewhat limited outlook imo, considering Caesers has publicly stated they plan to go their own direction. So I did not mean 888 was a bad corporation, as much as I don't think they are a great play given all of that over the long term. Bwin could be a steal.

Forgot to mention Caesers Interactive would be the play obv. This is also probably a deleveraging move.

So are they looking for a partner or someone to buy outright? That would seem to be the move for someone as big as Ceasars

[garrett]

It is not that they are not welcome. The problem is, some States are drafting legislation so rigid like IL, it would eliminate even the possibility, of any foreign operating company in their State period who offered online poker/gambling to U.S residents before. Caesers is aware of this and realizes given the State model with a fragmented market, 888 wouldn't be a shoe in if certain States had legislation with any type of poison pill. So moving forward, they realize with a State by State model, 888 wouldn't work everywhere. That's the main "non-grata" issue.

Having said that, 888 is a great company it seems, just have a look at their stock price on the LSE. Although I have never seen the balance sheets or done any research, pretty sure its not bad given that price. They also have an OTC (EIHDF) offering here, but its so thinly traded. Having said that, I would steer away from 888 in terms of an OTC investment when it comes to wanting to get in on this emerging market. I actually lean towards bwin.party. Early on people don't all realize, The Borgata is a serious player, and bwin.party has it. They also left the U.S market because of UIGEA in 2006 for this very reason, making themselves very well positioned to have few issues getting licensed. That stock is trading at only $1.98 as opposed to 888 @ $2.43 with a somewhat limited outlook imo, considering Caesers has publicly stated they plan to go their own direction. So I did not mean 888 was a bad corporation, as much as I don't think they are a great play given all of that over the long term. Bwin could be a steal.

Forgot to mention Caesers Interactive would be the play obv. This is also probably a deleveraging move.

So are they looking for a partner or someone to buy outright? That would seem to be the move for someone as big as Ceasars

Not sure I am completely following you. If you mean Caesers, they did aquire that room Barrière Poker and are obviously going to redesign and brand it Caesers with a launch most likely in NJ/NV, so they wont need any partners. If they own the property/assets etc, to a lucrative gaming platform as part of their Caesers Interactive division, that helps the valuation. I would think not being familiar with Las Vegas that since they want to also bundle PH with it, that is one of their better performing properties and not so in debt, but just a guess. Could be other red tape obviously too.

Its all a move to deleverage their CZR debt by launching this seperate venture, one of which if internet gambling goes the way many think, could be worth a ton of money. In time possibly offsetting a big chunk of their debt issues. No one wants partners, they cost money. Owning all of the intellectual capital, and property is very +EV obv. And that is exactly what Caesers is obviously doing here.