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Carl Icahn has appointed three people to the board of directors of Caesars Entertainment Corp., giving the billionaire hedge fund manager a significant influence on the future of the gaming and hospitality business.
In a statement Friday, Caesars and Icahn – who control 9.78% of the company, according to recent filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission – announced the signing of an agreement replacing three board members. and allowing a fourth representative if is acceptable to new directors "is not named in 45 days.
According to Reuters, Icahn has considered appointing former Tropicana Atlantic City general manager, Tony Rodio, to the position of general manager, replacing outgoing Mark Frissora.
Wall Street reacted positively Friday to the announcement of Icahn's involvement, with the Caesars share price having risen more than 4% by the end of Friday's session.
Caesars Entertainment is the largest casino operator in Atlantic City. The company's three casino hotels – Bally's, Caesars and Harrah's Resort – account for 30% of the Atlantic City market.
Icahn, who has a jarring history with casinos in the country's second-largest gaming market, said in a statement Friday that "the best way forward for Caesars requires a thorough strategic process to sell or merge the company so regional presence "in Las Vegas, but did not mention Atlantic City.
Several requests for comments left at the Icahn Enterprises office in Manhattan have not been returned.
"Caesars would be an excellent opportunity for some investors who have already expressed their interest, and I am pleased that the Board is exploring these opportunities," Icahn said in a press release. "Regardless of the strategic alternatives, I think Caesars should also focus on leadership succession, disciplined capital allocation, improved operational performance and optimization of real estate and other assets."
After selling $ 1.85 billion to Tropicana Entertainment and its properties in 2018 and having only one vacant property left in its portfolio, the Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, the relationship between Icahn and Atlantic City was coming to an end.
"Carl Icahn is the dominant player (Atlantic City)," tweeted Jim Kennedy, former executive director of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority and local economist, when news of Icahn's involvement in Caesars was made public the week last. "Icahn has a mission: to increase shareholder value. Do not reinvent (Atlantic City). "
The story of Icahn in Atlantic City has had mixed results.
In 2000, Icahn bought the Sands Casino Hotel after the bankruptcy for $ 65 million. Six years later, he added the neighboring Traymore Hotel for $ 61 million. In 2006, Pinnacle Entertainment bought the closed Sands at Icahn for $ 270 million. The building was imploded in October 2007 and the land has been vacant ever since.
The global investor is often credited with having rescued Tropicana Atlantic City in 2009 from bankruptcy and turning it into the second most lucrative property for gambling in the market, under Rodio's gaze.
Senate Speaker Steve Sweeney, of D-Salem, Gloucester, Cumberland and CRDA, defeated his attempts to use in 2017 nearly $ 5.6 million from alternative taxes. Investment in casinos, or IAT, to demolish Trump Plaza.
Icahn acquired Trump Plaza and Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort as part of a debt purchase agreement with Trump Entertainment Resorts after one of the company's three bankruptcies. A very public dispute with the local union of casino workers, Unite Here Local 54, led to the closure of the Taj Mahal in 2016.
Hard Rock International and a group of local investors bought the Boardwalk property in Icahn for $ 50 million in 2017 and spent $ 500 million on a complete renovation before reopening it in June 2018 as Hard Rock. Atlantic City Hotel & Casino.
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