Sold! -- Casino giant Harrah's Entertainment on Tuesday announced the sale of its business to private equity tandem Texas Pacific Group (TPG) and Apollo Management for an estimated $27.8 billion in cash. According to the agreement, Harrah's shareholders will receive $90 in cash for each outstanding Harrah's share. The value represents a premium of approximately 36 percent over Harrah's closing share price on Sept. 29, 2006, the last trading day before disclosure of the initial offer made by Apollo and TPG to acquire Harrah's for $81 per share. The transaction is expected to be completed in one year's time and is subject to stockholder approval, regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Harrah's intends to pay shareholders its regular quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share until the transaction closes.
From Russia With Love -- Russia's State Duma, the lower house of its parliament, today passed in a third and final reading gambling legislation that forces casinos across the country to relocate into four designated zones. All that remains for the bill to become law is the signature of President Vladimir Putin, the bill's original sponsor. If the bill becomes law, casinos in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities not permitting gambling would be closed on June 30, 2009. The four legal gambling zones as of July 1, 2009 will be the Altai, Primorsk and Kaliningrad regions, as well as an area between the Rostov and Krasnodar regions.
New Licensing Agreement -- I-gaming provider Playtech announced today a five-year licensing agreement with leading China-based gaming group Sino Strategic International.
Joint Venturing -- Technology provider Atlantis Internet Group on Tuesday announced its entrance into a joint venture agreement with the Moulin Rouge Hotel & Casino Corporation to redevelop the Historic Moulin Rouge Hotel & Casino property in Las Vegas, Nevada.