Saturday, Dec. 16, 2006

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Harrah's Entertainment fails to announce decision on takeover bids

By Erin Warner

World Series of Poker owner Harrah's Entertainment ended a board of directors meeting Thursday without confirming its decision on a multibillion dollar buyout offer.

All board members except chairman and CEO Gary Loveman deliberated during two-day special committee meeting in New York ending Thursday. The board planned to mull over any takeover offers it had received by the end of Tuesday.

Harrah's Entertainment, which owns the WSOP rights and more than 40 casinos under the Harrah's and Caesers names, is purportedly considering an offer from private equity companies Apollo Management Group and Texas Pacific Group.

The offer is worth a reported $15.5 billion, which would be one of the largest leveraged buyouts in history.

Rumors also circulated that a group led by Penn National Gaming and hedge fund D.E. Shaw would make a cash and stocks buyout offer.

Investors are keeping watch on the takeover bids, which could cause stocks in the sector to sell off, suggests one world markets analyst's report.

Related Articles:

Harrah's Reviewing Buyout Offers
Harrah's May Field Second Offer

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