and don't have shares in — settle or emerge from its bank- ruptcy. All of my stock is in the private CIE.” (For more on the Caesars family of companies, see "Murky Waters," below.)


From Hampstead to Las Vegas Garber’s entrepreneurial journey began at an early age. “My desire to work and make money started when I was very young,” says Garber, who was a paperboy at age 11 before run- ning a small concession stand at a public pool in Hampstead, Que., at 14. Born in 1964 in Montreal, Garber’s mother was a schoolteacher and his father was a restaurateur who owned the Rib’N Reef Steakhouse and started the Pizza Pan chain. Aſter an early education in the Jewish school system, Garber wanted to study at Marianopolis College, but the private English-language CEGEP rejected his application. “I was actu- ally a poor student,” says Garber, who nevertheless obtained a BA in industrial relations from McGill University. “I really enjoyed it. We talked about business, labour law and unions.” He then earned a law degree from the University of Ottawa before enrolling at Quebec’s École du Barreau (bar admis- sions course), where he met Boucher. “Mitch was always the centre of attention and he brought great energy to a group,” she says, also pointing out his easygoing personality and immense generosity. Garber began his career as a lawyer in 1990 at a small Mon-


treal law firm, Lazarus Charbonneau. That’s where he got his start in the gaming industry and developed a new practice: gaming law. “That speaks to his entrepreneurial spirit. At the time, he found an untapped field of law,” Boucher recounts. Back then, the law firm specialized in collecting debt from


MURKY WATERS


Caesars Acquisition Co. (CAC) is a part of the Caesars family of companies. At press time, there were nagging questions about the financial situation of Caesars Entertainment Corp. (CEC), owners of the world-famous Caesars Palace, another part of the family. How this troubled financial situation will affect CAC is unclear. Here is the main outline of a somewhat cloudy story. In December 2014, CEC and CAC announced a merger, but both companies are still listed independently on the stock market. As far as CPA Magazine has determined, the merger has not been completed.


Between December 2014 and January 2015, lawsuits


were filed against the board of directors of CAC by law firms representing shareholders of CAC. Also Andrews & Springer LLC, a Delaware law firm investigating the issue, is alleging in January that the merger “is merely intended to place CEC in a better position to restructure its $18.4 billion debt load


30 | CPA MAGAZINE | MAY 2016


Canadian gamblers for US and overseas casinos. His expertise also led him to advise large US casinos looking to expand by exploring business opportunities in Canada. He helped Caesars and Hilton establish the first casino in Windsor, Ont., in 1994. When the Casino de Montréal opened in the fall of 1993, he used his expertise to advise equipment suppliers. In 1999, Garber leſt his law practice to become vice-president


of SureFire Commerce, a Montreal-based company specializ- ing in securing e-commerce transactions, namely for online gaming companies and casinos. Through mergers and acqui- sitions, SureFire became Terra Payments, then Optimal Pay- ments, a Nasdaq-listed company that appointed him CEO in 2003. This career path helped him amass a fortune estimated at


$200 million, something he does not like to admit or discuss. However, his net worth would have been even more impressive had he accepted an offer from one of Hotmail’s founders to join and invest in one of the first free email services, which was launched in 1996. But “there’s no money to be made here in free email,” he believed. One year later, Microsoft bought Hotmail for US$400 million.


Reinventing Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil is synonymous with Vegas. Over the past 20 years, the entertainment company has been an integral part of the city, where its shows, such as The Beatles LOVE, “O” and KÀ, have been running for more than a decade. “The Cirque is a flagship of Quebec,” says Garber. In April 2015, the enter- tainment gem was sold to a consortium led by US private investment firm TPG Capital, which also owns Caesars En-


in preparation for bankruptcy.”


In January 2015, Caesars Entertainment Operating Co. —a subsidiary of CEC “that owns and operates many of the properties in the Caesars Entertainment network” —filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In March 2015, a Delaware judge quashed an attempt by CEC to dismiss a number of suits. In July 2015, a Chicago bankruptcy judge did the same. In December 2015, an appeals court in Chicago ruled that the request to halt the lawsuits be reconsidered by the lower court judges. In March this year, Moody’s Investors Service down- graded CEC’s wholly owned subsidiary Caesars Entertainment Resort Properties LLC (CERP), and Caesars Growth Property Holdings (CGPH), from B3 to Caa1. CGPH is “a wholly owned subsidiary of Caesars Growth Partners, LLC, a joint venture between CEC and CAC.” All the people contacted for this sidebar declined to an Barcelo


comment. — Y


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68