Wonder Tree

What is Wonder Tree?

Two blockbuster developments in the casino space earlier this year seemed to indicate an increasingly bullish bet on the sector, including Fertitta Entertainment’s acquisition of Caesars Entertainment in May. The other is a subsequent takeover offer of MGM Resorts from its largest shareholder, Barry Diller’s People Inc. But a negative shift in market conditions could affect both deals.

In July, Fertitta’s General Counsel Steven Scheinthal told the Nevada Gaming Control Board that the company had a letter of intent from banks to finance the transaction but was waiting for better borrowing conditions. Fertitta is assuming nearly $12 billion in Caesars’ debt and is committed to a $6.6 billion financing package.

“Our hope is that in the next few months there will be a window of opportunity where the market will be hotter and [it’s] a more interest rate friendly environment where we can go raise the money and then just put it in an escrow account,” Scheinthal said at the time.

About Wonder Tree

A federal judge previously rejected Laos’ attempt to pursue Baldwin and Bridge Capital because they had not been parties to the original arbitrations.

But the Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision Thursday (September 17).

The appeals court did not rule that Baldwin or Bridge Capital owes Laos the money. Instead, it said the lower court must hear Laos’ argument that they should be responsible for awards made against the companies they allegedly controlled.

About Wonder Tree

But I couldn’t have accomplished half of what I did without all of my colleagues, past and present. Our talented team of writers, editors, web site development guys, production team, on screen reporters, Human Resources, Accountants, everyone. It took the whole team to make sure we put up the latest news and opinions every day, and everyone deserves their fair share of the credit.

To all of those I met at the handful of conferences I attended before Covid-19 sent everything to digital, and all of those I met over email or Zoom since, it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope we get the chance to meet again when all of this is over, and you can reach me at any of my contact details listed at the bottom if you want to catch up in the meantime.

I’m still not 100% sure what I’ll be doing next, but I suspect it will still be in the gambling industry. This has been my life for more than a decade, and it’s an industry I continue to love and appreciate. No matter if I continue to write about it or throw myself back into an operations setting, it will always be apart of who I am. If you still want to be in touch, you can connect with me on LinkedIn, or you can follow me on Twitter if you to know whatever tangent I’ve gone off on next.