Caesars Entertainment To Sell Rio To Principal Of Imperial Cos. For $516.3 Mln

(RTTNews) - Caesars Entertainment Corp. (CZR), one of the world's most diversified casino-entertainment providers, agreed Monday to sell the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino to a company controlled by a principal of Imperial Cos. for $516.3 million, which implies a strong sales price to EBITDA multiple.

Under the terms of the agreement, Caesars will continue to operate the property pursuant to a lease for a minimum of two years and pay annualized rent of $45 million. The buyer has the option to pay Caesars $7 million to extend the lease under similar terms for a third year.

At the end of the lease term and at the request of the buyer, Caesars may continue to manage Rio or may provide transition services to the buyer.

"This deal allows Caesars Entertainment to focus its resources on strengthening its attractive portfolio of recently renovated Strip properties and is expected to result in incremental EBITDA at those properties.

The Rio will continue to be part of the Caesars Rewards network during the lease term, and the transaction is not expected to result in any changes to the guest experience.

The World Series of Poker will be hosted at the Rio in 2020 and hosting rights will remain with Caesars Entertainment thereafter.