Harrah's Entertainment, the biggest casino operator in the world, has accepted yesterday a $17.1 billion buyout offer from two private equity groups, after many rumors that circulated regarding various offers that the casino giant had received in the past few weeks.
In what will probably be one of the biggest private equity buyouts this year, Harrah's board of directors accepted the $90 a share buyout offer from Texas Pacific Group and Apollo Management. The company reserves the right to seek even higher bids in the next month, while it encourages its shareholders to approve the deal.
The price of the share in this offer was a 36 percent premium over the September 29 share price, which was the day before Harrah's received the first buyout offer at $81 per share.
Harrah's had set Tuesday as the deadline for receiving bids. The company's special committee, comprised of the board of the directors but not including the CEO and Chairman Gary Loveman, gathered in New York City to review the offers.
The deal, which includes Harrah's $10.7 billion debt, is the biggest purchase of a publicly held casino company.
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