Caesars and Carl Icahn Discuss Company Board Composition

Billionaire, Carl Icahn, is at it again with Caesars Entertainment – and while he still may have not given up on actually purchasing the gambling conglomerate, right now he’s devising the company’s board constituents along with d entities.

Caesars’ deal with Icahn is looking to appoint three new directors…

…which comes right after his acquisition of 9.78% in company ownership stakes.

A Game of CEO Thrones

With departing CEO, Mark Frissora, due to officially step down https://lcb.org/news/mark-frissora-resigns-from-caesars-entertainment on April 30th, Icahn is very eager for a decision to be made on his successor as soon as possible, if not immediately. In case that does not happen, he is hopeful that Caesars will exercise a month extension.

The three new of Caesars’ board of directors are Keith Cozza, Courtney Mather and James Nelson. Their appointment comes into immediate effect, under the of agreement.

They will be replacing the three directors who have stepped down from their role simultaneously as these new recruits have been named, as per regulatory requirements. There may be a fourth board director appointed at some point in future…

…which is something Icahn’s group holds the right to if a new CEO is not found within 45 days of agreement’s inception.

Caesars Rewards An Advantage to be Taken

Icahn commented: “I believe the best path forward for Caesars requires a thorough strategic process to sell or merge the company, to further develop its already strong regional presence, which will allow Caesars to continue to take advantage of the Caesars Rewards program, bringing more and more players into Caesars’ Vegas market.”

This, according to him, would make Caesars the most powerful competitor in Vegas…

…making the company a great opportunity for certain investors who are already interested. Icahn noted that the board will explore these opportunities and added:

“Independent of strategic alternatives, I believe Caesars should also be focused on leadership succession, disciplined capital allocation, improving operating performance and optimising real estate and other assets.”

Diversity of Experience

A variety of relevant experiences of new board is held in high regard…

…and the one man who is on point with that is chairman of the board, James Hunt. He welcomes the three new directors who will him in pursuing efforts to further enhance value for all shareholders.

He remarked that Caesars has been, since the completion of restructuring, undergoing a strategic process in order to create value which will be continued with new directors.

“On behalf of the entire board and Caesars’ nearly 68,000 employees, I want to thank our departing director colleagues for their distinguished and tireless service to the company.”

Mather and Cozza will also be recruited to strategy and finance committee and ad hoc CEO search committee.

Source:

“Caesars announces Carl Icahn directorial agreement”, casinobeats.com, March 1, 2019.