Caesars Acquisition Co. has reportedly been considering unsolicited bids from parties interested to purchase Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc. Although no official sale process has been announced, it seems that the company has hired global merchant bank The Raine Group LLC to help it go though the offers made.
Caesars Acquisition Co. is owned by Caesars Growth Partners. The latter, in turn, is owned by major gambling operator Caesars Entertainment Corp. Caesars Acquisition Co. currently owns the highly profitable Caesars Interactive Entertainment, known to be one of the world’s largest online, social and mobile gaming companies with full-year sales of a little less than $800 million. During the first quarter of the year, Caesars’ interactive unit posted a 28.8% increase in revenue.
The entity commenced operations in 2009. Among others, it also manages the World Series of Poker, the world’s biggest and most prestigious poker tournament series annually held in Las Vegas. What is more, in 2011, parent Caesars Entertainment bought Slotomania owner Playtika for the approximate amount of $100 million. Slotomania as well as other casino-style social games currently comprise more than 97% of Caesars Interactive’s annual revenue. The games do not feature real money gaming options, but players monthly pay certain amounts of money for numerous benefits.
According to industry sources, Caesars Acquisition Co. has received a number of unsolicited bids for its interactive gaming unit, with some of them exceeding $4 billion. A number of financial, media, gaming, and entertainment companies have been listed as potential suitors.
A sale of the interactive unit may be seriously hampered by the ongoing dispute between Caesars Entertainment and creditors that has resulted in a more than a year-long $18-billion bankruptcy court case involving the gambling operator’s main operational unit.
The dispute has put a number of key industry and financial figures against each other. Creditors have claimed that the gambling company had moved valuable Caesars assets, with Caesars Interactive and a number of land-based casino venues being among those, out of their reach.
The interactive unit’s ownership over the World Series of Poker brand has also been highly criticized by bondholders. According to an examiner, who had been specially appointed to review the multi-billion-dollar bankruptcy case, creditors may receive damages in litigation over the WSOP ownership claim.
