The pending closing of the multi-billion dollar sale of Harrah's to two private firms will not change the way the World Series of Poker will be run in 2008, and the current management, who will stay with the company, says that the WSOP will remain an important property for the company for years to come.
"The WSOP will remain a key brand in the Harrah's portfolio, and one earmarked for expansion on a number of fronts," said WSOP Communications Director Gary Thompson.
Thompson noted that the senior management team, lead by Harrah's Chairman and CEO Gary Loveman, will remain in place. WSOP Commission Jeffery Pollack and his team will also remain.
In April, Harrah's shareholders approved a $17.7 billion sale of the company to private equity buyers Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group. It took this long for the company to receive sale approval from the gaming boards of each state Harrah's operates casinos in, as well as the foreign countries in which Harrah's also has casinos. Just last week, Nevada's Gaming Commission gave its approval to the sale, as did the National Indian Gaming Commission, which were the last two commissions the parties needed on board for the sale to move forward.
These final hurdles will allow the sale to go through sometime early in 2008.
Harrah's is the largest casino operator in the world. With more than 50 casinos, it nearly hit the $10-billion-in-revenue mark in 2007. Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group will buy Harrah's for $90 a share. The stock opened at $88.80 today.
