Oct. 01–Caesars Entertainment Corp. has sold 10.3 million shares of its common stock to a Swiss banking firm for $200 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Credit Suisee Securities purchased the stock for $19.40 per share.
Today’s sale follows the heels of the gaming giant’s Sept. 25 move to offer common stock to generate cash to pay down a mortgage loan.
Under an agreement, the banking firm has 30 days to purchase an additional 1.5 million shares. The company bought some of those extra shares today, buying 340,418 more shares and generating $6.6 million, the filing states.
Caesars’ public offering, which closed today, was part of a refinancing plan to put the company in better position to take care of a $4.4 billion mortgage loan due at the end of the year.
Before the offering, the company secured a $3 billion loan and a $269.5 million revolving credit line, which it plans to use for the refinancing. Caesars plans to back the loans with the Octavius Tower at Caesars Palace and the Linq.
Caesars currently carries a debt load of $23.5 billion, the largest debt in the gaming business.
