Caesars Entertainment Names Anthony Rodio CEO

Officials from Caesars Entertainment announced some new changes in the structure of the company. It looks like Caesars CEO, Mark Frissora, is leaving his spot at this multi-million-dollar gambling company and, according to Wall Street Journal…

…he will be replaced with, Anthony “Tony” Rodio.

These changes are taking place just after Carl Icahn increased his share of Caesars ownership by completing a purchase of 15.53% of this gambling titan’s stakes.

Who is the New CEO?

The new chief executive officer, Rodio, is currently working as the CEO of Affinity Gaming, which is a privately-held gaming company that has its headquarters in Las Vegas.

The official announcement of his transition to Caesars still hasn’t been released…

…but it is expected fairly soon, sometime during the month of April.

60-year old, Rodio, who was already one of the shortlisted candidates to take the new CEO spot, will also get Mark Frissora’s position on the board of the directors of the company.

He Already Was a CEO

His appointment as the new CEO is not that surprising since he already worked with Icahn in previous years. Rodio worked as a CEO at Tropicana Entertainment since 2011…

…before Eldorado Resorts bought it for $1.85 billion in October 2018. After that, he moved to Affinity.

“By hiring a great CEO in Tony Rodio and a great management team, and by reinvesting every single penny of profits back into the company, we turned Tropicana into a great casino company,” Icahn commented on Rodio at the time.

The Acquisition of Caesars

Since Icahn has been mentioning that he is interested in selling Caesars, there have been two main companies interested in this acquisition.

According to some reports, both Eldorado and Golden Nugget have been given exclusive access to the financial history of the company…

…and it looks like that they’ve been granted access to it due to the possibility of an acquisition deal.

Caesars Entertainment, that is worth around $5.6 billion even though it has a huge $18 billion debt, has reportedly formed a board committee to discuss with bankers of PJT Partners Inc. on any possible interest received regarding a purchase.

It looks like Icahn is really interested in moving any potential sale as quickly as possible. There is talk that he could be in favor of g a deal with the Golden Nugget and that initial paperwork for an acquisition could be signed within a week.

However, thanks to his background with Tropicana, there might be a lot of negotiations prior to finalizing any new deal.

Caesars’ 2018 Revenue

Back in February, the brand released an official report regarding its financial results in 2018. The results highlight GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures on a consolidated basis.

The total net revenue for the entire year of 2018 increased by 72.4% or $3.52 billion, from $4.87 billion to $8.39 billion.

Complete net income improved $671 million from a loss of $368 million to the income of $303 million.

Enterprise-wide full-year net revenue increased by 2.7% or $224 million, from $8.17 billion to $8.39 billion.

“In 2018, Caesars delivered a fourth consecutive year of higher net revenues and adjusted EBITDAR, as well as expanded margins,” Frissora said at the time.

Source:

“Caesars to name new CEO, ousting Mark Frissora”, Erik Gibbs, calvinayre.com, April 15, 2019.