Caesars' Largest Unit Reaches Agreement With Senior Bondholders

Caesars Entertainment Corp.'s (CZR) largest unit has reached an agreement with senior bondholders to slash the unit's $18.4 billion debt, the latest step as the company seeks bankruptcy protection to restructure operations.

Caesars said it would put up to $1.45 billion in cash to support the proposal to shift the unit's assets to a publicly traded real estate investment trust that would then lease the property to the company for $635 million a year.

Caesar has agreed to guarantee those lease payments.

Negotiations continue with Caesars's remaining creditors.

The restructuring--subject to regulatory and court approval--seeks to cut debt by about $10 billion and interest expenses by about 75% to an estimated $450 million.

Caesars has been saddled by heavy debt load taken on since its 2008 leveraged buyout by private-equity firms Apollo Global Management LLC and TPG, compounded by economic woes.

Last week, the unit skipped a $235-million interest payment on junior bonds, triggering a 30-day grace period before a default. Standard & Poor's responded by slashing four notches, to its lowest level, the unit's corporate rating. "We consider a default to have occurred, despite a grace period exists, if we do not believe payment will be made within the stated grace period," S&P credit analyst Melissa Long said at the time in a statement.

-- Matt Jarzemsky contributed to this article.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

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