Since corporate mergers, once begun, develop a momentum all their all own, it was inevitable that someone would step forward to explore a purchase of Caesars Entertainment, regardless of whether it is a good
idea, risking a second bankruptcy. In a David-vs.-Goliath storyline, the buyer-to-be is Eldorado Resorts. The latter has requested inside information from Caesars and is in the process of performing due diligence. “Eldorado has yet to make a binding offer for Caesars, and there is no certainty any bid will materialize or that a deal will be successfully negotiated, the sources added,” chronicled Reuters. Considering that the two companies have a combined debt load of $12.4 billion, merger talks should be approached cautiously.
An Eldorado/Caesars combination would create a company with 79 casinos worldwide and a greatly enhanced Total Rewards database. Tilman Fertitta‘s Golden Nugget chain would appear to be out of the running: Fertitta has not submitted a second bid after his reverse-merger proposal was nixed. Given the number of Caesars properties that might have to jettisoned due to antitrust issues (or market-saturation ones, particularly in Atlantic City) there’s an opportunity here for an acquisitive company to scoop up a lot of assets at a discounted price.
* It’s finally happened. Major-league baseball players will have to wear corporate logos on their uniforms when the Oakland Athletics play exhibition games in Japan. We’re not sure this is what Billy Beane meant by “moneyball” but MGM Resorts International didn’t miss 
a trick. This sets an unfortunate MLB precedent, raising the nightmare prospect of baseball players’ uniforms becoming so bedizened with sponsor patches that they look like NASCAR drivers. And whoever puts out the weekly “MGM Minute” needs to learn the difference between a March Madness “right [sic] of passage” and a “rite of passage.” MGM CEO Jim Murren is traveling to Japan to throw out the ceremonial first pitch and is admittedly terrified of burying it in the dirt (or as we call it, “Clontzing” it, in memory of hapless journeyman pitcher Brad Clontz). We’re sure he’ll do fine.
MGM is one of the companies chafing at a moratorium on New York City casinos until 2023. Never mind that MGM bought Empire City in Yonkers only last year; it’s already itching to outfit it with Las Vegas-style slot machines and table games. Genting Group (already in the Five Boroughs at Resorts World New York) and Las Vegas Sands are each 
promising to throw $500 million at the Big Apple in return for market access. “I know it’s a topic of conversation, but I have no opinion or intention of making any changes at this time,” responded Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D).
Others making go-slow noises included Speaker of the Assembly Carl Heastie (D), who represents the Bronx and said, “Expansion of gambling for the Assembly majority is, I’d say, not one that people would be excited about. The casinos downstate is a very concerning issue for members, particularly in the city of New York. We’re just, not big fans of gambling.” Added budget director Robert Mujica, the Empire State lacks “the resources to open up gaming downstate. If you accelerate [the timeline], you would have to pay the current casinos close to $300 million. So you’re going to have to pay them first in order to do it.” It seems pretty easy for MGM, Sands and Genting to spend other people’s money.
* Caesars Entertainment’s Ides of March bloodbath has been stanched somewhat by the disclosure that many of the job ‘cuts’ will take the form of leaving open positions unoccupied. However, if Caesars is to save money, we applaud it for cutting from the top rather than savaging the worker bees. MGM, take note.
* Congratulations to Melco Resorts & Entertainment on winning “Building of the Year” for its Morpheus hotel tower, designed by the late Dame Zaha Hadid. There’s something befitting a building named 
after the god of dreams coming to represent the City of Dreams megaresort in Macao. The building’s curving, exoskeleton support system captured the imagination of voters at ArchDaily, the most-visited architectural site on the Internet, so much so that it beat out 3,999 other entrants. “Macao’s buildings have previously referenced architecture styles from around the world. Morpheus has evolved from its unique environment and site conditions as a new architecture expressly of this city,” said Viviana Muscettola of Zaha Hadid Architects. Let’s hope it’s the start of a Macanese trend.
* Human trafficking. 24-hour work shifts. Those are some of the charges being leveled at Imperial Pacific casino on Saipan. The plaintiffs say they were confined to crowded dormitories by their Chinese employers, bereft of air conditioning or even showers. “One [contractor] Gold Mantis supervisor, who had already physically beaten another employee, threatened to kill plaintiffs if they disobeyed him,” the court filing continues. “Scrutiny of the project intensified after the death of a construction worker in 2017 and an FBI raid that found a list of more than 150 undocumented workers in a contractor’s offices,” says Reuters. Imperial Pacific enjoys a casino monopoly in Saipan. Should these latest charges prove true, that privileged status should be revoked.
* Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen says he is “very pleased” with the settlement of his litigation against Las Vegas Sands. And well he should be because, regardless of the size of the settlement, just getting Sands to the bargaining table is a victory of sorts. The company had vowed to Suen until the last dog was hung but instead slinks quietly away from the battlefield.
Speaking of litigation against Sheldon Adelson, lawsuits against the Department of Justice for its reinterpretation of the Federal Wire Act 
may hinge, in part, on reports that the DOJ was merely parroting legal language fed to it by Adelson lackeys. New Jersey Attorney General Grubir Gerwal fired off a broadside, saying, “The future of New Jersey’ online gaming industry is at stake because of DOJ’s unlawful about-face regarding internet gaming—activity that DOJ promised us was perfectly legal just eight years ago. We will not stand by and let this arbitrary, politically-driven reinterpretation destroy a vibrant and essential industry here in our state.” You go, Grubir.
