Jefferies Financial Group Inc. is gauging interest from investors to raise roughly $5 billion in debt to support Carl Icahn in a possible rival bid for Caesars Entertainment Inc., according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Real estate mogul Tilman Fertitta’s years-long quest to buy Caesars Entertainment Inc. is finally paying off: His firm struck a $5.7 billion, all-cash deal for the Las Vegas company on Thursday that will add some 52 casinos in the US to his entertainment empire. Fertitta’s pursuit of Caesars dates as far back as 2018, when the owner of the Golden Nugget casinos approached the company about a possible merger. Fertitta had borrowed heavily to buy the Houston Rockets basketball team for $2.2 billion, and the potential merger was seen at the time as a means of folding his debt into a larger company.  Fertitta eventually built a stake in Caesars, signaling his continued interest in a tie-up. As part of the takeover announced on Thursday, Fertitta Entertainment Inc. is paying Caesars shareholders $31 a share in cash. We get reaction from Jody Lurie, Senior Credit Analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. (Source: Bloomberg)

Real estate mogul Tilman Fertitta’s years-long quest to buy Caesars Entertainment Inc. is finally paying off: His firm struck a $5.7 billion, all-cash deal for the Las Vegas company on Thursday that will add some 52 casinos in the US to his entertainment empire.

Caesars Entertainment Inc. has extended a period of exclusive talks about an $18 billion takeover by Tilman Fertitta as new details about the deal emerge.