Caesars (CZR) : 2-year performance

Caesars has been shuffling its balance sheet for the better part of a decade after a $31 billion buyout in 2006. The public shares have performed well but Caesars continues to scramble for cash to pay off debt holders.

** weekly chart **

Caesars Entertainment Corp. fell 7.4 percent to its lowest price since December after the casino operator said it will offer 7 million common shares, worth about $147.6 million at yesterday’s prices.

The shares declined to $19.52 at the close in New York, the lowest since Dec. 10. The stock has tumbled 25 percent this month.

** daily chart **

The offering underscores the challenges facing Caesars, which has been restructuring more than $23 billion in debt and doesn’t generate enough cash to cover its expenses. The Las Vegas-based company, controlled by Apollo Global Management LLC (APO) and TPG Capital, this week said it will close a casino in Tunica, Mississippi, because of declining revenue. On the Las Vegas Strip, where the company has been investing in its properties, gambling revenue fell 20 percent last month.

Caesars, the largest owner of casinos in the U.S., granted its banker the option to sell another 1.05 million shares, according to a statement yesterday. Apollo and TPG have agreed not to sell any of their holdings for about 60 days after the offering. Citigroup Inc. (C) is the sole underwriter.

The company has struggled to repair its balance sheet after a $30.7 billion leveraged buyout in 2008. Caesars has sold stock to the public, divested assets, bought back debt and restructured loans.

The sale of 7 million shares would increase the number outstanding by 5.1 percent to 144.2 million, according to company filings. While the share offering dilutes equity investors, some bonds rose.

Caesars Entertainment (CZR) - 1-week performance since IPO

Caesars Entertainment (CZR) began trading on the NASDAQ on 8 February 2012

NEW YORK (AP) – Shares of casino operator Caesars Entertainment (CZR) jumped almost 100% Wednesday in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq.

The company's stock rose as much as $8.90, or almost 100%, to $17.90 in morning trading. Caesars (CZR) had priced its initial public offering of 1.8 million shares at $9 apiece late Tuesday.

The Las Vegas-based company said late Tuesday that it expected to raise about $16 million from the offering before deducting costs. The offering values Caesars at about $1.14 billion, because it includes just 1.4% of the company's outstanding stock.

In 2007, when Caesars was known as Harrah's, Apollo Management Group and Texas Pacific Group paid $17.1 billion and assumed $12.4 billion in debt to take the company private.

When it first filed to go public in October 2010 as Harrah's Entertainment, the company planned to raise as much as $575 million. It scaled that back to $530 million, then canceled the proposal entirely, blaming market conditions.

The company restarted its IPO plans in November as the IPO market heated up again with several attention-getting tech offerings. At that point, it expected to raise about $50 million.

Caesars has said it would end up with net proceeds of $13.1 million selling the 1.8 million shares for $9, after deducting bank fees and other expenses. It plans to use the funds for general purposes including development.

Most of Caesars' casinos are in the U.S. and the U.K., while casino revenue is growing fastest in the major Asian markets.