Investors in Caesars Entertainment Corp. were scrambling to grasp the cost from a court-ordered investigation that said the casino company could face $5 billion in potential damages from the bankruptcy of its operating unit, Reuters reported yesterday. An examiner's report found that Caesars and its private equity backers could be on the hook for their efforts to keep the struggling casino empire afloat, which ended with last year's bankruptcy of Caesars' operating unit, CEOC. While the report is nonbinding, junior creditors will seize upon its findings to demand a better payout in ongoing mediated talks. CEOC's lawyers have said they anticipate Caesars will raise its proposed contribution of $1.5 billion in order to settle claims that it stripped the best assets, such as the Linq Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. However, in July, the operating unit will lose the exclusive right to propose a reorganization plan.
