Caesars Up More Than 24 Percent in First Day of Trading | News

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corp. surged more than 24 percent in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq.

The company's stock rose $2.20, or 27.4 percent, to $11.20 in Wednesday morning trading. Caesars had priced its initial public offering of 1.8 million shares at $9 apiece.

The Las Vegas company said late Tuesday that it expected to raise about $16 million from the offering before deducting costs. The offering values Caesars at about $1.14 billion overall because it includes just 1.4 percent of the company's outstanding stock.

Most of Caesars' casinos are in the U.S. and the U.K., while casino revenue is growing fastest in the major Asian markets.

Caesars is trading under the "CZR" ticker symbol.