Casino news source: The Sun Herald - http://www.sunherald.com
Harrah's shareholders approve biggest casino buyout ever
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS --Harrah's Entertainment Inc. shareholders approved a $17.1 billion buyout Thursday by two private equity groups in the largest deal ever to take a publicly held casino company private, officials said.
Harrah's announced that shareholders controlling 66 percent of outstanding stock approved the transaction.
Votes were tallied after a 10-minute meeting attended by about 100 shareholders. Harrah's spokesman Alberto Lopez characterized the session as "quick, genial" and "an exercise in American capitalism that worked flawlessly." It was headed by Harrah's chief executive Gary Loveman and corporate secretary Michael Cohen, and was closed to the public.
The deal will turn Harrah's over to an entity called Hamlet Holdings LLC, controlled by Apollo Management Group of New York City and Texas Pacific Group, based in Fort Worth, Texas. Representatives of both companies declined immediate comment.
Harrah's is the world's largest casino company by revenue, operating 39 casinos across the United States, including the Biloxi Grand Casino, Caesars Palace, Bally's and Paris on the Las Vegas Strip. It also has interests in casinos in Canada and Uruguay and owns U.K.-based London Clubs International PLC, which operates seven casinos in the U.K., two in Egypt, one in South Africa and is a consultant for a casino in Lebanon. |
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