- Bally’s Corporation has completed the purchase of the Eldorado Casino Shreveport from Caesars Entertainment.
- Caesars agreed to divest several properties during their merger with Eldorado Resorts.
- In November, Caesars Entertainment sold Bally’s Atlantic City to Twin River Worldwide Holdings which rebranded as Bally’s Corporation.
As Caesars Entertainment is seeking to divest a number of their properties and ‘get smaller’ one beneficiary has been Bally’s Corporation. The company formerly known as Twin River Worldwide Holdings has been taking their company in the opposition direction, rebranding and scaling up as Bally’s Corporation. They’ve been the beneficiary of a number of moves Caesars has made to comply with FTC guidelines pursuant to their merger with Eldorado Resorts and to shore up their balance sheet during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s been a busy holiday season for Bally’s Corporation (NYSE: BALY). The former Twin River Worldwide Holdings purchased the entire Bally’s brand from Caesars and rebranded as Bally’s Corporation in late November. Simultaneously, they acquired Atlantic City from Caesars Entertainment in a deal that closed in late November. They’ve also partnered with FanDuel to take over the bookmaking operations at their Atlantic City property. The expectation is that over the next year you’ll see Bally’s bring all of their properties under the new branding. They’ve now finalized a deal with Bally’s for the Eldorado Casino Shreveport.
The sale of the Eldorado Resort Shreveport was one of Twin River Worldwide/Bally’s earliest moves in their current acquisition spree. Likewise, it was one of the first strategic decisions made by Caesars during reorganizations to facilitate their merger. The deal was announced in April along with a yet to close agreement for Caesars to sell the MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa in Lake Tahoe in Bally’s for $155 million. Caesars had originally planned to sell the Shreveport and Tahoe properties to Maverick Gaming for $230 but that deal was eventually cancelled as the COVID-19 pandemic clobbered casino industry revenue streams. The agreement to sell the Atlantic City property was also announced at this time.
Neither company had much to say about the sale closing. Caesars CEO Tom Reeg had a short quote thanking the employees at the Louisiana property and wishing them well for the future:
“Since our acquisition of the property fifteen years ago, our Team Members’ passion and commitment have driven our success in Shreveport. We wish all of them continued success under Bally’s ownership.”
There is now considerable interest over the future of the Bally’s branded property on the Las Vegas Strip. For now, Bally’s Las Vegas remains in the property portfolio of Caesars Entertainment along a perpetual license to continue using the Bally’s branding on the Las Vegas Strip. At the same time, Caesars has not been shy about their desire to shed a couple of their Southern Nevada assets. The two mutual goals look to be in alignment and there’s much reason to think that Bally’s Corporation will eventually purchase Bally’s Las Vegas.
