The internal shake-up within Caesars Entertainment continued this week with the resignation of a board member tied to one of the hedge funds supplanted by Carl Icahn as the casino operator’s controlling shareholder.
David Sambur, a senior partner with Apollo Global Management, stepped down from the board on April 4, leaving the company with an 11-person board. The move all but assures Icahn will gain a fourth seat on the company’s board.
“Mr. Sambur’s resignation was not the result of any disagreement with the company on any matter relating to the company’s operations, policies or practices,” Caesars said in a brief filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday.
In March, Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital, the two private equity giants that have controlled Caesars for a decade, sold 36.7 million shares in a direct sale to Icahn. The two firms divested the rest of their Caesars shares later that month in private sales.
Icahn, the 83-year-old corporate raider, controls close to 20 percent of Caesars through stock acquisitions he completed between December and March. Icahn is pushing for the sale of Caesars or wants to merge the company with another casino operator.
Las Vegas-based Caesars operates nearly 40 casinos in 13 states and the World Series of Poker.
TPG and Apollo completed their nearly $30 billion acquisition of Caesars, then called Harrah’s, in January 2008. The recession, coupled with the massive debt the firms saddled on Caesars, caused the company to enter bankruptcy reorganization in 2015.
The firms agreed with the final reorganization that shed $16 billion in debt and created real estate investment trust VICI Properties, which spun off from the company and took ownership of nearly two dozen Caesars properties. Caesars continues to operate the casinos and resorts through a lease agreement.
TPG and Apollo held about 16 percent of Caesars when the company exited bankruptcy in October 2017 and roughly 11 percent at the end of last year.
Richard Schifter, a senior adviser at TPG, is still listed as a Caesars board member.
Icahn and Caesars Entertainment’s management reached a deal in March where his representatives controlled one-fourth of the company’s then 12-person board. Icahn also has nearly total say over who will be the company’s next chief executive. If Caesars hasn’t named a new CEO to Icahn’s liking by next week, he gets a fourth seat on the board.
Current Caesars CEO Mark Frissora announced plans last year to leave the position in February, but later agreed to remain through April when the search for a new CEO stalled. Frissora, a former CEO with Hertz, joined Caesars in July 2015 and led the company through its 30-month bankruptcy reorganization
Frissora is also a member of Caesars board.
Icahn Enterprises CEO Keith Cozza, Icahn Enterprises board member James Nelson, and Icahn Capital fund manager Courtney Mather joined the Caesars board in March, replacing John Boushy, Matthew Ferko, and Christopher Williams, according to an SEC filing.
Shares of Caesars closed at $8.79 on the Nasdaq Tuesday, down 32 cents or 3.51 percent.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
