Eldorado Resorts is set to finalise its acquisition of Caesars Entertainment Corporation after the New Jersey Casino Control Commission gave its approval to the proposed merger.
The two operators announced the deal last year, with Eldorado agreeing to pay $17.3bn – $7.2bn in cash, and approximately 77m Eldorado common shares – to take ownership of Caesars.
The deal was subject to a number of regulatory approvals and closing conditions, though clearance from the New Jersey authority means Eldorado and Caesars have now secured all the required regulatory approvals to complete the merger.
Eldorado had previously said it hoped to complete the acquisition before the end of the first half of 2020.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board and Gaming Commission approved the deal earlier this month, while regulators and authorities in a number of other states have also given the green light for the merger to proceed.
Last week, the Indiana Gaming Commission also cleared the merger, but ordered the combined entity to sell three casinos in the state.
With Eldorado operating the Tropicana casino in Evansville, Indiana and Caesars Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino, Horseshoe Hammond Casino, Caesars Southern Indiana Casino and Indiana Grand Racing & Casino, the Commission had reservations about the deal.
Shareholders from both Eldorado and Caesars approved the deal in November, while the US Federal Trade Commission last month gave the merger the go-ahead, after requiring Eldorado to sell two of its properties to Twin River Worldwide Holdings in markets where the deal was deemed uncompetitive.
Sales of both the Eldorado Shreveport Resort and Casino in Louisiana and the Mont Bleu Casino Resort & Spa in Lake Tahoe, Nevada for a purchase price of $155m – were agreed in April.