Eldorado Resorts targets 1st-quarter close for Caesars acquisition

Eldorado Resorts CEO Thomas Reeg told investors Wednesday that he expects the company to close its acquisition of Caesars Entertainment Corp. within the first three months of next year.

“We’re still targeting a first half of 2020 closing date,” Reeg said during the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday. “If I were to place a bet today, I’d be betting on a first-quarter close versus a second-quarter close. But we’re going through regulatory and antitrust in real time.”

The announcement came after the Reno-based company reported solid third-quarter earnings, with a record third-quarter adjusted cash flow of $197.8 million, up 7.9 percent from the same period last year on a same-store basis.

Reeg pointed to the company’s margin enhancement and operating efficiency initiatives, along with revenue recognition from new sports betting partnerships, as drivers for this growth.

Reeg also reiterated during the call that Eldorado is “supremely confident” it will be able to achieve revenue synergies of $500 million a year.

“We feel very good about where we’re heading with Caesars, about where Caesars is on its own,” Reeg said. “We see opportunities to monetize assets in Caesars that we’ve started toward another path of transactions and some unique areas in Caesars that we think will drive material, incremental value to shareholders.”

Suntrust Robinson Humphrey analyst Barry Jonas said in a Wednesday note that monetization from undervalued assets such as sports betting and Las Vegas Strip land could create more shareholder value in the Caesars portfolio.

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.