Landry’s Offers Caesars Entertainment $7B in Bid to Acquire Gaming Giant

Billionaire Tilman Fertitta’s hospitality group Landry’s has put in a $7 billion bid to acquire Caesars Entertainment, outmatching a competing bid from Carl Icahn.

Landry’s is attempting to buy the gaming and entertainment giant for around $34 a share, a premium compared to the approximate $28.50 the stock was trading at Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Wall Street Journal first reported the bid on Wednesday, noting that Caesars’ stock price briefly shot up 12 percent to $29 after the news.

Landry’s declined to comment while Caesars did not respond to a request for comment.

Icahn Enterprises reportedly offered Caesars, which owns 50 U.S. gaming facilities as well as online betting operations, $33 per share, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The online betting facet of the business known as Caesars Digital, according to a fourth-quarter earnings report, was the biggest driver of revenue growth for the company in 2025, generating $85 million for the company in the last three months of the year alone.

Caesars Entertainment ended the year with $887 million in cash on hand and $2.07 billion available credit.

But Caesars may not be going in the direction it was hoping for near the end of 2025, having lost its joint venture bid with SL Green Realty and Roc Nation in September to be awarded one of the three downstate casino licenses offered by New York State. The joint venture had proposed a boutique gaming facility in Times Square.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.