An investigator’s report on the bankruptcy of Caesars Entertainment Corp.’s largest unit raises fresh questions about the hardball tactics employed by private-equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The firm’s tactics in Caesars, which included moving some of the best assets away from the unit that filed for chapter 11 protection, were the latest in a long history of creative legal and financial moves to squeeze profits out of souring situations. For example, creditors were stunned when Apollo prevailed in the bankruptcy of its Momentive Performance Materials Inc. in 2014. Its wedge in the case: an arcane legal argument from a 2004 Supreme Court case involving an Indiana couple’s inability to make about $4,000 in payments on a Chevrolet pickup. Apollo also ultimately doubled its money on Realogy Holdings Corp., a collection of real-estate brokerages it bought for more than $6 billion on the eve of the housing crisis, by using a variety of financial maneuvers, including buying up the company’s debt at a discount, to keep it out of bankruptcy.
