NEWS
Harrah’s changes name, flees Wall St
It’s now called Caesars, and doesn’t have the $600m a planned IPO might have raised
A rose by any other name might smell as sweet, but Harrah’s Entertainment may be hoping that under a new moniker investors will find it a more appealing financial prospect.
The company – which operates 53 casinos worldwide, principally in the US and Britain and mostly under the Caesars, Harrah’s and Horseshoe brands – in late November officially changed its corporate name to Caesars Entertainment (sans apostrophe; the Romans didn’t have them, you know). That switch, originally planned a couple of years ago, completed a transition which began back in 2005 when Harrah’s bought Caesars for $9bn, at the time the biggest-ever takeover in the casino industry. But, around the same time as changing its name last month, it also dumped plans to raise some $600m on the US stock market. It said conditions weren’t right, although just the previous day General Motors – a potent symbol of an American industry that in recent years has been suffering far more severely than the casino business – had returned successfully to Wall Street.
It is one of the biggest debtors in the casino industry
The company needs money – it is one of the most leveraged in the industry (in other words, one of the biggest debtors) and it could use $575m-odd for planned casinos in Cleveland and Cincinnati as well as the completion of the Caesars Palace hotel tower in Las Vegas. But it lost $164.8m in the third quarter ending 30 September, although there is a bright side to that figure: it was less than a tenth of the firm’s $1.62bn loss in the same quarter a year ago.
Revenue, at $2.29bn, was roughly the same as in the earlier period. The initial public offering (IPO) that it planned on New York’s NASDAQ market would most likely have met that cash requirement, while still leaving its owners Apollo and TPG Capital – private-equity firms which paid around $30bn for Harrah’s in 2008 – with a controlling interest. For now, however, that plan appears to be shelved and management at
Harrah’s – sorry, Caesars – are concentrating again on pulling the gaming business back into the black. There would seem to be plenty of opportunity for that as the US and British economies grow healthier: its Las Vegas properties include such famous names as Bally’s, Caesars Palace, Harrah’s, Paris Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood Resort, and the Rio, and it also owns the World Series of Poker (WSOP) brand. But it is also pinning hopes on the Internet, and on dogs. Harrah’s Interactive Entertainment is now providing online gaming under the
CaesarsCasino.com brand to British customers, offering slots, Roulette, Blackjack and Baccarat. The launch of the new operation, based on a Gamesys platform, follows the debut earlier this year of
CaesarsBingo.com. Meanwhile, 888 Holdings’ Dragonfish division is aiming a free-to-play Website with WSOP branding at the US market, after opening a pay-to-play WSOP site for UK gamers.
The canine element of the Caesars recovery strategy, meanwhile, is thus far limited to three Vegas properties, Caesars Palace, the Imperial Palace and the Rio, which recently began admitting gamers’ quadruped companions. It’s not believed, however, that their arrival prompted the cancellation of the IPO, because that really would be a case of letting the tail...
4 DECEMBER 2010 INBRIEF
GOING FOR GOLD The new Cosmopolitan resort in Las Vegas and US casino owner Isle of Capri are the latest members of the Gaming Standards Association (GSA). Both join as GSA gold members.
KEEP OUT Mount Airy Casino in Pennsylvania has been fined $40,000 for allowing individuals who had placed themselves on the state’s self-exclusion list to enter the gaming floor and gamble, and for sending promotional mail to a self- excluded consumer.
CLEVER STUFF
Passoker.com was named most promising startup at the iGaming Congress and Expo held in Copenhagen this winter. The firm has recently signed its first licensing agreement with an operator, Victor Chandler, which will offer online players the cash and slot versions of Passoker’s games. The Passoker system is based on rewarding gamers when events such as football goals occur.
ALDERNEY APPROVAL Inspired Gaming Group is now authorised by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission to provide gaming content to operators registered in the Channel Island.
FINGERING FRAUDSTERS
PayPoint.net has upgraded its fraud-detection system for online payments, FraudGuard. The new version, FraudGuard4, is to be used by British online gaming operator 32Red.
HILL DEALWagerWorks, the online subsidiary of International Game Technology (IGT), is to supply content to William Hill including its Cleopatra, Monopoly, Cluedo, Rainbow Riches Pots of Gold, Elvis Top 20, Ca$hino and Wheel of Fortune products.
IN COURT A London casino is suing a prominent supporter of the Conservative Party for more than £70,000 ($110,000) after his bank refused to honour cheques he had exchanged for chips. Financier Pierre Rolin is being taken to court by the Clermont Club of Berkeley Square, according to Brtitish newspaper reports.
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