The sale of Harrah’s Entertainment to the Texas Pacific Group and Apollo Global Management LP was completed Monday. The deal is worth $17.1 billion. The two private equity companies bought Harrah’s for $90 a share. The company is now private, and its stock traded for the last time on Monday at $89.97 a share.
Harrah’s board approved the sale in December of 2006, and its shareholders approved the sale in early April of 2007. It took this long to receive sale approval from the gaming boards of each state in which Harrah’s operates a casino, as well as the foreign countries in which Harrah’s also has casinos.
Harrah’s is the largest casino operator in the world. With more than 50 casinos, it nearly hit the $10 billion revenue mark in 2007.
Poker fans know that Harrah’s owns the rights to the World Series of Poker, and that the annual event takes place at the company’s Rio property in Las Vegas every year. Click here for this year’s schedule.
The sale will not affect this year’s WSOP, and current management, who will remain with the company, say that the WSOP will remain an important property of Harrah’s for years to come.
