Harrah's Entertainment

Infobox_Company | company_name = Harrahs Entertainment, Inc.
company_
company_type = Private
company_slogan = The Premier name in Casino Entertainment
foundation = Reno, Nevada (1937)
location = Las Vegas, Nevada
owner = Hamlet Holdings
key_people = Gary Loveman, CEO
Charles L. Atwood, Vice Chairman
num_employees = 85,000 (2005)
industry = Entertainment & Hospitality
products = Casino Games
Resorts
revenue = profit $10.8 billion USD (2007)
homepage = [http://www.harrahs.com www.harrahs.com]

Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. is a private gaming corporation that owns and operates casinos, hotels, and six golf courses under several brands. The company, based in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the largest gaming company in the world, with yearly revenues around $10.8 billion. Harrah’s is owned by Hamlet Holdingscite news |first= Arnold |last= Knightly |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS: Deal closes: Harrah's now private |url= http://www.lvrj.com/business/14688032.html |work= |publisher= |date= 2008-01-29 |accessdate=2008-01-29 ] (Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group). While Apollo and TPG own a large majority, Blackstone Group LP owns a minority stake in Harrah's. [http://www.blackstone.com/private_equity/portfolio.asp?Order=ByPortfolioCompany&ll=h&ul=m]

History

William F. Harrah era (1937-1978)

The company known as Harrah's Entertainment was founded on October 30, 1937 as a small bingo parlor in Reno, Nevada operated by William F. Harrah. [cite web |url= http://www.harrahs.com/harrahs-corporate/about-us.html |title= About Us |accessdate=2008-01-29 |format= |work= ] cite web |url= http://www.harrahs.com/harrahs-corporate/media-company-history.html |title= Company History |accessdate=2008-01-29 |format= |work= ] The company went public in 1971 with 450,000 shares. Following that, in 1972, it was listed on the American Stock Exchange and in 1973 Harrah's became the first casino company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Company founder William F. Harrah died in 1978.

Post William F. Harrah era

* February 1980 – Holiday Inns, Inc. acquires Harrah's Las Vegas. Holiday Inn at the time had 1,600 hotels and interests in two casinos, a casino under construction in the marina district in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and a 40 percent ownership interest in River Boat Casino, Inc., a casino adjacent to the Holiday Inn hotel on the Las Vegas Strip. In November, Harrah's Marina opens.

* July 1987 – Bill's Casino opens.

* August 1988 – Harrah's Laughlin opens.

* January 1990 – Bass PLC acquires the Holiday Inn hotel business and The Promus Companies is created to retain the remaining assets and brands. Promus stock began trading a month later (NYSE:PRI).

* 1991 – Company headquarters is moved from Reno, Nevada to Memphis, Tennessee cite web |title= Harrah's Entertainment | url = http://www.answers.com/topic/harrah-s-entertainment-inc?cat=biz-fin | work = answers.com | accessdate= 2007-08-13]

* April 1992 – Holiday Las Vegas is converted to a Harrah's casino.

* May 1993 – Harrah's Joliet opens;* November: Harrah's Vicksburg and Harrah's Tunica open.

* April 1994 – Harrah's Shreveport opens.

* June 1995 – The company is renamed to Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. following the split off of the Promus hotel brands (Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, and Homewood Suites).

* March 1997 – Harrah's St. Louis-Riverport opens; May sees the consolidate of two Mississippi properties into the new Tunica Mardi Gras; September: Total Gold is launched; October: Harrah's completes $200 million expansion to Las Vegas; November: Harrah's Cherokee Smoky Mountains opens.

* January 1998 – Harrah's Prairie Band opens.

* June 1998 – the company acquires Showboat, Inc. including the Showboat Casino, Atlantic City and renames one property to Harrah's East Chicago. The company later sold the Showboat Hotel & Casino and the Sydney Showboat.

* January 1, 1999 – Harrah's closed the purchase of the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino and Rio Secco Golf course for $888 million. Later that year, the company moved its headquarters from Memphis, Tennessee to Las Vegas. cite web |title= Harrahs Entertainment Inc · 8-K · For 4/21/99 · EX-99.1 | url = http://www.secinfo.com/dVut2.6Fxr.d.htm | accessdate= 2007-08-13]

* June 2003 – the Harrah's casino in Vicksburg, Mississippi is sold.

* March 2004 – Harrah's purchased Binion's Horseshoe. On March 11, 2004, Harrah's sold Binion's Horseshoe to MTR Gaming Group retaining the rights to the Horsehoe brand and the World Series of Poker. Later in 2004, Harrah's closed on the purchase of Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corporation.

* June 13, 2005 – Harrah's completed the takeover of Caesars Entertainment. While the companies were not required to divest any properties, they did sell several properties before the merger was completed. This merger made Harrah's the largest gambling companyFact|date=January 2008 with over 4 million square feet (370,000 m²) of casinos, almost 100,000 employees and over 40 casinos. Later that month, the company announced that they would consolidate all their brand names under the Harrah's, Rio, Caesars, and Horseshoe brands. Some standalone names, like Paris Las Vegas are likely to be retained. The rebranding of the two remaining Bally's properties in the company is scheduled, but a specific time line has not been disclosed.Fact|date=January 2008

* September 2005 – Harrah's Pride of Lake Charles was severely damaged by Hurricane Rita. One riverboat was pushed completely onshore, and the other is at the Port of Lake Charles awaiting repairs. All of the restaurants and support buildings were destroyed. Harrah's estimates that the rebuilding will take 2 years.

* November 29, 2005 – Harrah's Entertainment announced plans to sell the Flamingo Laughlin to AREP Boardwalk Properties LLC. The $170 million sale closed on May 19, 2006. As a condition of the sale, the property is to be renamed the "Aquarius" within 6 months.

* December 12, 2005 – the Grand Casino Gulfport sale was announced for an undisclosed amount to Gulfside Casino Partnership. Gulfside is the owner of the Copa Casino, next to the Grand Casino. The Grand Casino Biloxi is to be rebuilt from scratch as Margaritaville Casino and Resort.

* April 23, 2006 – a scavenger hunt style promotion called "Treasure Hunt" ended when an accident seriously hurt one employee and tourist, and killed one tourist. The accident happened when a robbery suspect fleeing police hit a mini-van carrying the Harrah's employee and tourists.

* May 26, 2006 – in Las Vegas, NV, Harrah's acquired a convert|19.6|acre|m2|sing=on site behind, but not adjacent to the Imperial Palace with frontage on Koval Road. The cost for the land was $164.4 million. The site is currently occupied by the "Desert Club Apartments".

* October 2, 2006 – The Wall Street Journal announced that private-equity firms would buy Harrah's Entertainment for $15.05 billion in one of the largest leveraged buyouts in history. A number of private-equity firms, including Texas Pacific Group and Apollo Management were involved in the talks. The company also announced plans to trade 24 acres on the Las Vegas Strip for the Barbary Coast Hotel and Casino. Following approval from the SEC, state gaming commissions and by shareholders, the stock (NYSE HET) was delisted on January 28, 2008 and the company was taken private by Hamlet Holdings.

* December 2006 – Harrah's acquired London Clubs International for $568 million. Harrah's announced Casino Windsor would be renamed as Caesars Windsor and would receive multiple upgrades to the physical premises. [cite web |url= http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/84/847/84772/items/236339/2006_10K.pdf |title= Form 10K 2006 |accessdate=2007-11-06 |format= |work= ]

* November 2007 - Harrah's acquired the Orient Golf Club on the Cotai Strip in Macau for approximately US$580M. The land area is roughly 180 acres.Fact|date=August 2008

* April 9, 2008 – Harrah's Entertainment's board of directors approved a corporate name change to Caesars Entertainment Corporation. This change will capitalize on the international name recognition enjoyed on the Caesars name brand. The Harrah's brand remains one of the company's three primary casino brands. [cite news|url=http://www.lvrj.com/business/17455959.html|publisher="Las Vegas Review-Journal"|date=2008-04-10|title=Harrah's opts to hail name of Caesars|last=Stutz|first=Howard]

Properties

ee also

* Total Rewards
* World Series of Poker- Buyout through Binion Horeshoe acquisition.

References

Citation
last =Shook
first =Robert L.
title =Jackpot
isbn =0-471-26323-0
url =

External links

* [http://www.harrahs.com/ Harrah's homepage] (used as a source for some information)
* [http://www.lasvegas-how-to.com/harrahs-total-rewards.html Harrah's Total Rewards Card]