Eldorado Resorts, which is acquiring the Harrah’s Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack as part of its $17.3 billion merger with Caesars Entertainment, received approval for the deal Wednesday from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
The deal requires approvals by regulatory agencies in 18 states and a sign-off by the Federal Trade Commission. Reno-based Eldorado’s management team will oversee the combined company.
Last month, the deal was approved by Pennsylvania State Horse Racing Commission, Regulators from Illinois, Iowa, and Louisiana have also approved the merger.
Harrah’s Philadelphia will mark Eldorado’s first property in Pennsylvania.
The property, which is located in the nearby city of Chester, opened a race and sportsbook last year after the legalized sports, is more than 112,000 square feet. The property includes a 5/8ths of mile harness racetrack that operates seasonally and an off-track pari-mutuel wagering area for racing around the country.
In a statement, Eldorado said it expects the deal to close in the first half of 2020.
In November, Shareholders from Eldorado and Caesars overwhelmingly voted in favor of the gaming companies’ merger. Under terms of the agreement, Eldorado will pay $8.40 per share in cash and 0.0899 shares of Eldorado stock for each Caesars share, or $12.75 per share. The combined business will be called Caesars and its shares will be traded on the Nasdaq.
#exclusive – Pennsylvania regulators OK Harrah’s Philadelphia inclusion in Eldorado-Caesars $17.3B merger. –@howardstutz, CDC Gaming. https://t.co/Wb8SkznvQ5 @HarrahsPHL @CaesarsEnt @ElDoradoResorts #CDCgaming
— CDC Gaming (@CDCNewswire) February 12, 2020
Once the deal closes, the combined company, which will be renamed Caesars, will be governed by a new 11-person board of directors.
Eldorado is providing six of its current board members to the combined company: Chairman Gary Carano, Reeg – who will be CEO of the new company – David Tomick, Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., Michael Pegram and Bonnie Biumi.
Current Caesars directors Keith Cozza, Jan Jones Blackhurst, Don Kornstein, Courtney Mather and James Nelson will be part of the new board. Cozza, Mather and Nelson were appointed to the Caesars board in 2019 by corporate raider Carl Icahn, who controls more than 17 percent of the current Caesars.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
