Caesars Entertainment completes $1.7 billion acquisition of Centaur Holdings

Caesars Entertainment Corporation today announced it has completed the acquisition of Centaur Holdings for $1.7 billion in cash, $1.625 billion of which was due at closing and $75 million of which is deferred consideration.

The transaction adds Hoosier Park Racing & Casino in Anderson, Indiana, and Indiana Grand Racing & Casino in Shelbyville, Indiana to the Caesars Entertainment portfolio.

With the completion of the transaction, Centaur guests will now be able to join Caesars Entertainment's Total Rewards loyalty program and transfer their points between Centaur's loyalty program and Total Rewards. With more than 55 million members, Total Rewards is one of the world's largest loyalty programs and acts as a tourism driver for the cities and destinations where Caesars operates.

"The Centaur acquisition expands our footprint to the attractive central Indiana region with exciting new destinations that are profitable, well-capitalized and highly complementary to our existing portfolio," said Mark Frissora, President and CEO of Caesars Entertainment. "This project is an important part of our growth strategy, which expands our brands, increases revenue and facilitates broad distribution of the Total Rewards program."

Caesars Entertainment is investing $50 million in various property improvements and IT upgrades to further enhance the guest experience. The introduction of Total Rewards and our centralized cost structure is expected to reduce the purchase price multiple to 8.3x in less than two years. The Company anticipates introducing table games to these properties, subject to any necessary approvals. Assuming the introduction of table games and certain synergies, the effective purchase price multiple would be less than 7x at that time.