Caesars Entertainment Corp. pushed back the departure of CEO Mark Frissora by more than two months to the end of April, saying late Friday it had amended his separation agreement.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the casino company said Frissora would receive an “equity grant” for 2019 with a target value of $7 million. Frissora will receive any annual base salary that would have been paid to him through the termination date. The company also agreed to “pay or reimburse Frissora” for “reasonable attorney’s fees incurred” in connection with the negotiation of the amendment.
“The amendment was entered into for purposes of continuity of leadership as the company searches for a successor to Mr. Frissora with the third-party search firm it has engaged for that purpose,” according to the SEC filing. “Pursuant to the amendment, Mr. Frissora will continue as President and Chief Executive Officer until a termination date of April 30, 2019.”
Caesars said it could extend the agreement by one month.
The filing comes after Deutsche Bank gaming analyst Carlo Santarelli said in a research note that the search would stretch well beyond Frissora’s announced departure date of Feb. 8 and the company would not name an interim CEO.
Frissora announced his departure Nov. 1. He joined Caesars in 2015 and led the company though its lengthy bankruptcy reorganization that was completed last year.
Caesars hired an executive search firm to seek candidates and a sub-committee of the company’s board is overseeing the process.
Santarelli said the firm, Illinois-based Heidrick & Struggles, has been interviewing candidates from both within the gaming industry and C-level executives from “consumer brand focused companies outside of gaming.”
A Caesars insider told CDC Gaming earlier this week that the CEO search “will go as long as it takes to find the best candidate and (Frissora) will remain as CEO until that happens. (There is) no deadline.”
Frissora, 62, had been CEO of rental car giant Hertz prior to joining Caesars. He took over as CEO from Gary Loveman, who remained chairman of the company until last year.
In a separate SEC filing Tuesday, Caesars said it would pay Chief Financial Officer Eric Hession and General Counsel Timothy Donovan each cash awards of $900,000 “to encourage the retention of certain key executives through the transition to a new chief executive officer.”
The cash awards vest on Feb. 1, 2020 and are subject to Hession’s and Donovan’s “continued employment with the company or one of its subsidiaries through such vesting date.”
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
