Here’s a great capsule summary of the Harrah’s/Caesars merger proposal, and a breakdown of Harrah’s Caesars, MGM MIRAGE, and Mandalay Resort group, from Yahoo Finance:
Casino operator Harrah’s Entertainment is close to buying bigger rival Caesars Entertainment in a $10 billion deal that would form the world’s largest casino empire with $8.8 billion in annual revenue and as many as 54 casinos.
The merger would be the gambling industry’s second major takeover in a month – MGM Mirage last month agreed to buy Mandalay Resort Group for $4.8 billion plus debt.
A list of properties owned by and select financial information on all four companies follows:
PROPERTIES AND BRANDS:
CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT INC.: Operates 28 properties in five countries and 26,000 hotel rooms. Brands include Caesars, Bally’s, Paris, Hilton, Flamingo and Grand Casinos. Properties include Bally’s, Caesar’s Palace, Flamingo and Paris Las Vegas in Las Vegas.
Atlantic City properties include Atlantic City Hilton, Bally’s Atlantic City and Caesar’s Atlantic City. Also operates properties in New Orleans, Mississippi, Indiana.
International locations include South Africa, Australia, Uruguay and Canada.
HARRAH’S ENTERTAINNMENT INC.: Operates 26 casinos in 13 states. Brands include Harrah’s, Harveys, Rio and Showboat. Properties include Harrah’s Lake Tahoe, Harveys Lake Tahoe, Harrah’s Reno, Harrah’s Las Vegas, Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino and Harrah’s Laughlin in Nevada.
Also operates properties in California, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois, Mississippi, North Carolina and New Jersey.
MANDALAY RESORT GROUP: Owns and operates Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Excalibur, Circus Circus and Slots-A-Fun in Las Vegas. Other Nevada properties include Circus Circus in Reno, Colorado Belle and Edgewater in Laughlin, Gold Strike and Nevada Landing in Jean and Railroad Pass in Henderson.
— Owns and operates Gold Strike, a casino in Tunica County, Mississippi.
— Owns 50 percent stakes in Silver Legacy in Reno, and Grand Victoria, a riverboat in Elgin, Illinois, and Monte Carlo in Las Vegas. Monte Carlo is jointly owned with MGM Mirage.
— Owns 53.5 percent stake in MotorCity casino in Detroit.
MGM MIRAGE: Owns and operates 12 casinos in Nevada, Mississippi, Michigan and Australia, and has stakes in two other casino resorts in Nevada and New Jersey.
— Owns the Bellagio, MGM Grand Las Vegas, Mirage, Treasure Island, New York-New York and Boardwalk casinos as well as 50 percent of the Monte Carlo on the Las Vegas Strip.
— Owns three golf courses as well as Whiskey Pete’s, Buffalo Bill’s and Primm Valley Resort in Nevada, Beau Rivage in Mississippi, and MGM Grand Detroit casinos.
— Owns a 50 percent stake in the Borgata casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey and a 25 percent stake in Triangle Casino, a local casino in Bristol, United Kingdom.
EMPLOYEES:
CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT has 52,000 employees.
HARRAHS ENTERTAINMENT has nearly 48,000 employees.
MANDALAY RESORT and its consolidated subsidiaries together employed about 28,000 people as of January 31.
MGM MIRAGE has more than 45,000 employees.
REVENUES, NET INCOME:
CAESARS ENTERTAINMENT: For the year ended Dec. 31, 2003, it reported revenue of $4.46 billion and net income of $46 million.
HARRAH’S ENTERTAINMENT: For the year ended Dec. 31, 2003, it reported revenue of $4.32 billion and net income of $292.6 million.
MANDALAY RESORT: For the year ended Jan. 31, it reported revenue of $2.49 billion and net income of $149.8 million.
MGM MIRAGE: For the year ending Dec. 31, 2003, it reported net revenue of $3.91 billion and net income of $243.7 million.
There are the numbers. Both boards have approved the merger.
This deal was not unforeseen, and I think that the only place where there will be real issues will be in New Jersey, and Harrah’s can probably avoid undue concentration there by selling the Hilton. After all, Donald Trump briefly owned four casinos, so there is a precedent for it.
For more information, see the New York Times or Bloomberg.com.