Caesars Entertainment Inc. (CZR) used Steven B. Stokdyk and Andrew Clark of Latham & Watkins LLP for counsel on an agreement to sell to Fertitta Entertainment Inc. for $5.7 billion in cash and $11.9 billion in assumed debt in a deal announced on Thursday, May 28.

Bryan Slotkin, Amish Barot, Cameron W. Clough, Jon Zald and Ana Marisol Im at PJT Partners Inc. gave financial advice to the target, while Kenneth B. Schwartz of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP was antitrust counsel to Caesars, where chief legal officer Edmund L. Quatmann Jr. and senior vice president – legal Amie Sabo were on the transaction. Las Vegas-based Caesars operates more than 50 casinos in North America under brands including Caesars Palace, Harrah’s and Eldorado. The company also runs a sports betting and online gaming platform.

Stokdyk advised Eldorado Resorts Inc. on its $17.3 billion purchase of Caesars Entertainment Corp., a deal announced in June 2019. Barot, Jason Noble, Slotkin and K. Don Cornwall at PJT gave financial advice to Caesars there. Eldorado took the Caesars name after the deal closed in July 2020. Cornwell is still a director at PJT but left the banking boutique in 2023 to launch Dynasty Equity Partners Management LLC, a sports investment firm.

Fertitta tapped Michael Deyong, Joel L. Rubinstein and Ross Sturman of White & Case LLP for counsel. Marco J. Caggiano at Morgan Stanley and Scott L. Smith at Goldman, Sachs & Co. gave financial advice to Houston-based Fertitta, the holding company of Tilman Fertitta, which owns Landry’s Inc., the Houston Rockets franchise in the National Basketball Association and Golden Nugget casinos. General counsel Steven L. Scheinthal is on the deal at the buyer.

White & Case’s Rubinstein represented Golden Nugget Online Gaming Inc. on its $1.56 billion 2021 sale to DraftKings Inc. (DKNG), a deal announced in August 2021 and closed in 2022. Tilman Fertitta beneficially owned 46% of the equity in the target.

Claire E. James and Damien R. Zoubek of Freshfields LLP are advising the Carano family, which owns a stake of about 5% in Caesars. The family agreed to roll part of that equity into Fertitta on the close of the transaction.

Fertitta will pay $31 in cash per Caesars share, a 49% premium to the target’s closing price on Feb. 25, the day before the Financial Times reported that Caesars was considering a sale to Fertitta.

The deal isn’t subject to a financing condition and will be financed with equity from Fertitta Entertainment, assumed Caesars’ debt and new committed debt financing arranged by a group consisting of 10 banks.

The companies didn’t specify an anticipated closing date for the transaction, which requires approvals from regulators and Caesars shareholders.

According to a March article in The Wall Street Journal, activist investor Carl C. Icahn had offered roughly $33 per share for Caesars, which last March added two of his deputies, Jesse A. Lynn and Ted Papapostolou of Icahn Enterprises LP, to its expanded 12-member board. Both deputies still hold directorships. Icahn owned 2.4 million shares at the end of the first quarter, according to a May 15 filing.

—Ronald Orol contributed to this report

Editor’s note: The original version of this article was published May 28, 2026, on The Deal’s premium subscription website. For access, log in to TheDeal.com or use the form below to request a demo.