Caesars restarts IPO plans

Caesars Entertainment Corp, one of the world's biggest casino companies, is restarting its plans to go public a year after it cancelled its initial public offering.

The announcement comes as the IPO market is beginning to heat up again.

While Caesars is potentially looking to get back into the IPO mix, its expectations are more muted than a year ago. The Las Vegas company said Tuesday that it seeks to raise up to US$50 million. Last November, it had hoped to raise as much as US$532 million before it pulled its IPO, citing market conditions.

The US$50 million figure is subject to change as the managers of the IPO gauge investor interest.

Caesars owns or operates 52 casinos in the US and overseas as of September 30. Its brands include Harrah's, Caesars and Horseshoe.

Apollo Management Group, led by buyout titan Leon Black, and Texas Pacific Group, paid US$17.1 billion and took on US$12.4 billion in debt in 2007 to take Caesars, then known as Harrah's, private. It was one of the biggest leveraged buyouts ever. At the time, private money was on a shopping spree for casino operators, considered hot targets for their cash-generating ability and real estate holdings.

Caesars changed its name from Harrah's Entertainment Inc in November 2010 after cancelling its IPO.

The gambling company's latest attempt to go public comes as the casino industry is still looking to regain its footing. Strength in Macau has helped companies with Asian operations, as US gambling markets in Las Vegas and Atlantic City slowly improve.

Most of Caesars' casinos are in the US and the UK, although the company says it is trying to expand into Asia.

Caesars did not say in the regulatory filing Tuesday how many shares it plans to sell, for how much, or when. It said it plans to list on the Nasdaq exchange under the 'CZR' ticker symbol.

The IPO has been viewed in part as a way for Caesars to alleviate its debt load. The company had total long-term debt of US$19.62 billion as of September 30, according to the filing.

For the nine months ended September 30, Caesars reported a loss of US$467 million on revenue of US$6.66 billion.