Chicago Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar said during a hearing, which took place on Wednesday, that Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. (CEOC) can use part of those $847 million it has available for the next five weeks or so.
CEOC is a division of gaming operator Caesars Entertainment Corp. The company filed for Chapter 11 protection back in January.
As stated above, Judge Goldgar ruled that CEOC can make use of its money in weeks to come, although some of the operator’s creditors shared that they are not particularly happy with his decision.
The company had previously presented to the court a specially prepared budget, according to which the amount of $334 million is to be tapped up until April 3. The filing suggested that the operator’s revenue is to exceed expenditure and $834 million are to be generated towards the end of the five-week period.
The motion is to be further discussed by Judge Goldgar on March 26. He also postponed some other motions, among which was the creditors’ request for an investigation of the company’s transactions before it filed for Chapter 11 protection. They will be reconsidered by the Judge on March 25.
It seems that the transactions in question are to be subjected to a separate investigation that will most definitely have a great impact on the final decision on Caesars bankruptcy case.
Judge Goldgar was urged to appoint an independent examiner that would be in charge of the investigation. Caesars and some of its creditors agreed that it should be carried out. Some bondholders, however, stated that no examiner should be appointed or, at least, not now, as creditors can investigate the transactions themselves.
What is more, Caesars also asked the court to terminate certain contracts that would save the gaming operator the approximate sum of $675,000 per month. These contracts included advertising and sponsorship agreements, deals with a Louisiana tour bus operator, etc. No information was revealed about the court’s decision on this motion.
During the hearing, Judge Goldgar also ruled that Casears should keep on paying both its vendors and employees.
Yet, he refrained from ruling on some creditors’ bid to prevent Chicago-based law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP from representing them in the case. They argued that the firm has previously worked with Apollo Global Management LLC and TPG Capital. The two companies are private equity owners of Caesars.
As previously reported, Caesars and over 170 of its affiliates filed for Chapter 11 protection back in January, after several second-lien bondholders submitted a bankruptcy petition to a Delaware court.
