Caesars Acquisition Co. (CACQ), the spinoff from Caesars Entertainment Corp. (CZR) that gives investors a separate stake in the parent company’s online gambling business, rose in the first day of trading.

Caesars Entertainment, the largest owner of casinos in the U.S., offered shareholders the right to buy stock in the subsidiary for $8.64 a share to bolster its balance sheet and highlight what the company sees as growth businesses. Caesars Acquisition distributed 135.7 million shares to investors, raising $1.17 billion, according to a statement yesterday.

The shares, listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol CACQ, closed at $11.05 in New York, giving the company a market value of about $1.5 billion. The shares opened for trading at $11.90.

Caesars Acquisition owns a 42 percent interest in Caesars Growth Partners, an entity that owns the Planet Hollywood Casino in Las Vegas, a new casino under construction in Baltimore and most of Caesars Interactive, the company’s online gambling unit. Caesars Entertainment retains the rest.

The private-equity firms Apollo Global Management LLC (APO) and TPG Capital acquired Caesars in a $30.7 billion leveraged buyout in 2008. The firms, which have been restructuring Las Vegas-based Caesars’ debts since then, committed $600 million to Caesars Acquisition, the company said.

Caesars Entertainment, owner of the namesake casino on the Las Vegas Strip, fell 3.6 percent to $18.52 in New York. The stock had almost tripled this year as of yesterday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles at cpalmeri1@bloomberg.net

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