Timing is everything for creditors appealing the start date of the bankruptcy filing for Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s operating company in hopes of unlocking $468 million in value, Reuters reported yesterday. Caesars' unsecured creditors' committee yesterday asked a federal judge to review an April 29 ruling that Caesars is not obligated to consent to a forced bankruptcy case filed by creditors on Jan. 12. Caesars voluntarily filed for chapter 11 protection three days later, on Jan. 15. The unsecured creditors separately asked Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar to force Caesars to consent to the Jan. 12 case because they say Caesars might have cost them money by waiting. Caesars in October granted certain stakeholders a lien on as much as $468 million in cash to earn their support for its proposed restructuring. It waited until Jan. 15 to file for bankruptcy so the lien would be outside a statutory 90-day window to challenge certain pre-bankruptcy payments, the unsecured creditors argue. The unsecured creditors want to bring the case back within that window by enforcing the Jan. 12 filing, as invalidating the lien would free up the money for other creditors.
