\nBy NATHAN LAYNE and EMI EMOTO
\n\tREUTERS
\n\tTOKYO \u2014 Caesars Entertainment Corp. will likely agree to a debt restructuring with bondholders within a year and should have no problem financing a foray into the Japanese market, the debt-strapped casino operator\u2019s chief executive said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\tGary Loveman said he believed Caesars\u2019 finances \u2014 its debt carries a speculative grade rating \u2014 would not put it at a disadvantage as it seeks a license in Japan, where a bill to legalize casinos could be put to a vote in parliament this year.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cA license in Japan will be so attractive that raising the money is not likely to be a big problem,\u201d Loveman said in an interview with Reuters, adding that he was talking with potential partners for a possible entry into Japan.<\/p>\n
\tCaesars is one of a dozen or so global operators that have been jockeying for position in Japan, which brokerage CLSA estimates could eventually generate $40 billion in annual gaming revenues, making it the second-biggest Asian market after Macau.<\/p>\n
\tLoveman said it was too early to put a figure on how much Caesars might invest before tax rates, partnerships and other important factors are decided. Caesars plans to compete for a license in Tokyo and Osaka as well as in potential sites outside the big cities, such as Hokkaido or Okinawa, he said.<\/p>\n
\tStandard and Poor\u2019s has a CCC- long-term issuer rating on the company, a reflection of the $23 billion in debt on its balance sheet. The bulk of that debt is housed in a subsidiary called Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. (CEOC).<\/p>\n
\tEarlier this month owners of CEOC second-lien bonds issued a notice of default, claiming its transfer some of assets to another unit and the removal of a parent company guarantee marked a default on obligations.<\/p>\n
\tCaesars said in a filing that it did not believe a default had occurred, arguing that fair value on the asset sales had been determined based on a thorough and independent process.<\/p>\n
\tWith some $3 billion in cash, Loveman said there was no risk of CEOC going bankrupt. He said he expected to work out a settlement with creditors on debt restructuring within a year, clearing one important hurdle by the time Japan could start the application process for casino licenses in 2016.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI am quite confident that the circumstances of this entity (CEOC) will be resolved,\u201d Loveman said, adding that a settlement would likely involve the swapping of cash, equity or new debt securities with lower interest expenses or longer maturities.<\/p>\n
\tCaesars views Japan as an important component of its Asia strategy after it failed to secure a spot in Macau, the world\u2019s largest gambling hub. It would also complement a planned foray into South Korea, where the U.S. operator is building a gaming resort after receiving preliminary approval in March.<\/p>\n
\tJapan\u2019s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has thrown his weight behind casinos as a way to revitalize the economy, fueling confidence among proponents that the casino bill will be passed during a special session of parliament expected in October.<\/p>\n
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By NATHAN LAYNE and EMI EMOTO REUTERS TOKYO \u2014 Caesars Entertainment Corp. will likely agree to a debt restructuring with bondholders within a year and should have no problem financing a foray into the Japanese market, the debt-strapped casino operator\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-casino-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7581\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumarchives.tmsites.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}