About this app
About Trial of Phoenix
I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope you enjoyed it as much I enjoyed working with you.
I’ll be behind the scenes helping tie up the loose ends, and then I’ll be taking a much-needed vacation staycation while I contemplate the next chapter.
Feel free to reach out. You can find my detail at http://billbeatty.net.
How to play Trial of Phoenix
Lottomatica CEO Guglielmo Angelozzi described its merger with Cirsa as a “low-risk proposition”, during an investor call detailing the deal on Wednesday.
The Wednesday announcement promised the merger of the two listed gaming giants would create the second-largest listed global gaming and sports betting operator, with a pro forma adjusted EBITDA of approximately €2 billion ($2.3 billion).
Angelozzi, who is set to lead the combined company as CEO, told analysts on the post-announcement call that the deal was expected to be a “low-risk proposition” given the consistent growth demonstrated by both Lottomatica and Cirsa in recent years.
What is Trial of Phoenix?
In July, Fertitta’s General Counsel Steven Scheinthal told the Nevada Gaming Control Board that the company had a letter of intent from banks to finance the transaction but was waiting for better borrowing conditions. Fertitta is assuming nearly $12 billion in Caesars’ debt and is committed to a $6.6 billion financing package.
“Our hope is that in the next few months there will be a window of opportunity where the market will be hotter and [it’s] a more interest rate friendly environment where we can go raise the money and then just put it in an escrow account,” Scheinthal said at the time.
That window Scheinthal had hoped for seems to be moving further away. Caesars’ proxy filing showed that even during negotiations in the spring, Fertitta refused to go above its $31-per-share offer “due to higher financing costs and increased macroeconomic risks”. From the end of 2025 to late April of this year, higher borrowing costs had resulted in “approximately $40 million per year in additional costs from when the process started”, the filing said.