Bondholders’ involved in a case against Caesars Entertainment Corp lost the opportunity for an early resolution in a lawsuit after a United States District Judge ruled in the casino’s favor. The case will go to trial instead of a quick ruling wanted by bondholders’ who allege that the company did not honor their guarantees of bonds issued by the bankrupt subsidiary.
Last Tuesday, Shira Scheindlin, a US District Judge in Manhattan ruled that there are material disputes in connection with a stock sale in 2014, the month of May that impacted the guarantees of $750 million in unsecured bonds. The disputes would have to be resolved during a trial, according to Scheindlin, which denied the quick ruling request by bondholders’.
Bondholders Frederick Barton Danner and MeehanCombs Global Credit Opportunities Funds allege that Caesars are in violation of the Trust Indenture Act or the TIA. The bondholders say Caesars released consent guarantees of bonds that were issued by the bankrupt operating unit. An attorney for MeehanCombs, James Millar, stated they are looking forward to going to trial on the issues in the future, letting the chips fall where they may. Caesars has yet to comment.
The ruling by Scheindlin is similar to a decision back in August of 2015 when a case was brought to light from other bondholders who were suing Caesars for similar violations based on the TIA. This law was created during the era of the Great Depression as a means to protect bondholders.
Caesars has stated that if they lose the cases involving TIA, then they would most likely be forced to file bankruptcy like their operating unit. However, the MeehanCombs case may be put on hold instead of proceeding to trial. Soon after the ruling, Caesars filed court papers stating they would seek an injunction staying the case until 60 days after Richard Davis, an independent examiner, was able to complete and investigation into the alleged fraudulent transfers of the assets of the casino company.
United States Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar ordered the examiner, who should have a report completed by early this year. Creditors allege that prior to bankruptcy, years of asset transfers by the operating unit of Caesars put many casinos beyond the reach of creditors.
The operating unit has around $18 billion in debt, which it has been trying to restrict with a consensus in bankruptcy with their creditors.