Harrah S Entertainment

The Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment confirmed Tuesday that "discussions have opened up again" over its role in the Foxwoods Casino project in South Philadelphia. In a statement, the company said it was not at liberty "to discuss the substance" of those talks at this time. On Sunday, The Inquirer reported that the gaming giant was in negotiations to become a partner in the struggling Foxwoods project. Harrah's holds a promissory note of $67 million for the 16-acre parcel from a group of local investors, including family foundations for lawyer Lewis Katz and developer Ron Rubin.

The top Harrah's executive in charge of the company's four casinos in Atlantic City resigned from his post Monday. A Harrah's Entertainment Inc. spokeswoman said yesterday that David Jonas, Harrah's regional president, resigned for "personal reasons. " Carlos Tolosa, eastern division president for Harrah's, will serve as interim regional president until the company finds a replacement for Jonas. Jonas' departure comes at a critical time for Harrah's - and for Atlantic City.

Also in this column: First Union cuts jobs PhilEx reduces fees MBNA chief recovering Do gamblers borrow more? Casino operator Harrah's Entertainment Inc. has tapped MBNA America Bank of Wilmington to sell cards to 23 million gamblers who have registered at the company's casinos, restaurants and hotels from Atlantic City to Las Vegas, according to Harrah's spokesman Gary Thompson. Heavy users win discounts at Harrah's, Rio and Showboat casinos and casino-hotels.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc., the world's biggest casino company, reported a second-quarter net loss of $274 million, compared with a profit of $2.29 billion a year earlier, citing reduced customer spending in all of its U.S. regions and asset writedowns, Bloomberg News reported. Sales fell 2.2 percent to $2.22 billion, the news service said. Harrah's said that, for the quarter ended June 30, it recorded a $52.3 million charge related to an investment in the Foxwoods casino project in Philadelphia, Bloomberg said.

Persistent. That's how Marie Osmond describes Don Marrandino, new Eastern Division president for gambling giant Harrah's Entertainment Inc. It was Marrandino, you see, who persuaded the singer and her brother Donny to resurrect their 1970s TV variety show on a Las Vegas stage. "Don gives you an offer you can't refuse. . . . He believed in Donny and Marie, the brand," Osmond said during a phone interview from Vegas, where "The Donny and Marie Show" has played five nights a week for more than a year now at the Flamingo casino, which Marrandino used to run. A knack for booking acts that find an audience is what helped Marrandino land back in his native Atlantic City, where he began his career 28 years ago. The move also brings him back to his roots in Brigantine, where his parents and siblings still live and where he spent seven summers as a beach lifeguard.

Harrah's Entertainment's blockbuster acquisition of Caesars Entertainment, announced yesterday, would create the world's biggest gambling company, one that would control about half of the Atlantic City market. If the deal is approved by state regulators, five of the city's 12 casinos would share the same owner. Harrah's-Caesars would control nearly half of the slot machines in Atlantic City, nearly half the city's total gaming space, and nearly half of its 13,000 hotel rooms. Harrah's Entertainment Inc. said yesterday that it would purchase Caesars Entertainment Inc. for $5.2 billion in cash and stock.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc., the world's largest gambling company and biggest casino operator in Atlantic City, is the target of a $15.1 billion offer by two private-equity firms. The Las Vegas company confirmed yesterday that it had received an offer to be acquired for $81 a share from Apollo Management, of New York, and Texas Pacific Group, of Fort Worth, Texas. "In one sense, you wouldn't think the largest company in the gaming industry would be taken private," said Brian Ford, an analyst at Ernst & Young in Center City, "but there's nothing to suggest these numbers are so large that it can't readily happen.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. completed its $10.4 billion acquisition of Caesars Entertainment Inc. yesterday to create the world's largest gambling company, with 43 properties on two continents. The newly formed company also becomes the largest gambling operator in Atlantic City, controlling 40 percent of the resort's gambling space, hotel rooms and slot machines. Harrah's will own four of the city's 12 casino hotels: Showboat, Caesars and Bally's on the Boardwalk, and Harrah's in the Marina.

After listening to the Rendell administration's rosy analysis of riverboat gambling at a legislative hearing last week, State Rep. Steven Nickol finally expressed his impatience. "I get the impression that the Mayor's Commission on Gambling is really the Mayor's Commission for Gambling," the York County Republican said. At least no one left the hearing confused about where the Rendell camp stands. The mayor's commission, chaired by former U.S. Attorney Michael Baylson, used its time at the microphone to drive home a single theme: Riverboat gambling would mean a staggering amount of jobs and tax revenue for Philadelphia's struggling economy.

The investors behind a South Philly casino have a new name and three weeks to move the stalled project forward or face the very real possibility of losing their license. The state Gaming Control Board yesterday gave the investors until Dec. 10 to finalize a deal to have Harrah's Entertainment take over the project, which has been known as Foxwoods. The investors' casino license could be revoked at the board's Dec. 16 meeting if they miss that deadline. Harrah's and the local investors, known as Philadelphia Entertainment Development Partners (PEDP)

In a last-ditch effort to restore the Foxwoods Casino gambling license, Harrah's Entertainment has offered to double the money it is willing to lend the venture, according to a petition released Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The petition was filed last Friday by the Foxwoods group, Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners (PEDP), but kept confidential until a redacted version could be prepared for the public. The gaming board revoked the Foxwoods license Dec. 16. Commissioners raised concerns about incomplete financial documents and commitments, changes in the charitable nature of the venture, and the scaled-back scope of the project.

The investors behind a South Philly casino have a new name and three weeks to move the stalled project forward or face the very real possibility of losing their license. The state Gaming Control Board yesterday gave the investors until Dec. 10 to finalize a deal to have Harrah's Entertainment take over the project, which has been known as Foxwoods. The investors' casino license could be revoked at the board's Dec. 16 meeting if they miss that deadline. Harrah's and the local investors, known as Philadelphia Entertainment Development Partners (PEDP)

For the second time in six months, local investors in the proposed Foxwoods Casino will present state gaming regulators with a new partner and a plan to revive the stalled South Philadelphia project. This time around, they have a deal with Harrah's Entertainment to step in as both investor and operator of the waterfront gambling hall. Because Harrah's already has a casino 15 miles away in Chester, it is allowed by Pennsylvania law to have only a one-third stake in Foxwoods. In an announcement Tuesday, the local investor group - Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners (PEDP)

Harrah's Entertainment is only a flurry of pen strokes away from taking over the troubled Foxwoods Casino project in South Philadelphia, with a final agreement ready for the original partners' signatures, according to people familiar with negotiations. More than a dozen Foxwoods investors, including the Mashantucket Pequot tribe in Connecticut and the charitable interests of the families of local entrepreneurs Lewis Katz, Ron Rubin, and Ed Snider, are expected to approve the deal. Even so, they and Harrah's still must persuade the state not to revoke the project's license, an action to be discussed by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board at a hearing Wednesday.

ATLANTIC CITY - New Jersey moved closer Thursday to allowing smaller casinos in Atlantic City as a way to jump-start the nation's second-largest gambling market. The state Senate approved a bill that would allow for casinos with as few as 200 hotel rooms to be built on the Boardwalk. That's down from the current 500-room minimum, and is one-tenth of the 2,000-room inventory that Atlantic City's most successful casinos have. Sen. Jim Whelan, a former Atlantic City mayor, proposed the change to lower the financial barrier to building in the city.

In a sign that it might soon take over the troubled Foxwoods Casino project, Harrah's Entertainment Inc. has written off $52.3 million in debt owed by the local investor group for the 16.5-acre site on the Delaware waterfront in South Philadelphia. The disclosure was contained in Harrah's financial results for the second quarter, which ended June 30. According to people familiar with the deal, forgiveness of the debt, incurred in 2005, is part of the negotiations to transfer control of the Foxwoods project to Harrah's.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc., the world's biggest casino company, reported a second-quarter net loss of $274 million, compared with a profit of $2.29 billion a year earlier, citing reduced customer spending in all of its U.S. regions and asset writedowns, Bloomberg News reported. Sales fell 2.2 percent to $2.22 billion, the news service said. Harrah's said that, for the quarter ended June 30, it recorded a $52.3 million charge related to an investment in the Foxwoods casino project in Philadelphia, Bloomberg said.

The Las Vegas-based Harrah's Entertainment confirmed Tuesday that "discussions have opened up again" over its role in the Foxwoods Casino project in South Philadelphia. In a statement, the company said it was not at liberty "to discuss the substance" of those talks at this time. On Sunday, The Inquirer reported that the gaming giant was in negotiations to become a partner in the struggling Foxwoods project. Harrah's holds a promissory note of $67 million for the 16-acre parcel from a group of local investors, including family foundations for lawyer Lewis Katz and developer Ron Rubin.

The Foxwoods Casino project could be rescued by a neighbor in nearby Chester - Harrah's Entertainment. The country's largest gaming company is in talks with the Foxwoods group about becoming a new partner, replacing Las Vegas casino titan Steve Wynn as developer and manager of the South Philadelphia gaming hall, according to sources familiar with negotiations. Under Pennsylvania law, Harrah's could acquire only a 33 percent stake in the venture, since it already controls a casino in the state.

Persistent. That's how Marie Osmond describes Don Marrandino, new Eastern Division president for gambling giant Harrah's Entertainment Inc. It was Marrandino, you see, who persuaded the singer and her brother Donny to resurrect their 1970s TV variety show on a Las Vegas stage. "Don gives you an offer you can't refuse. . . . He believed in Donny and Marie, the brand," Osmond said during a phone interview from Vegas, where "The Donny and Marie Show" has played five nights a week for more than a year now at the Flamingo casino, which Marrandino used to run. A knack for booking acts that find an audience is what helped Marrandino land back in his native Atlantic City, where he began his career 28 years ago. The move also brings him back to his roots in Brigantine, where his parents and siblings still live and where he spent seven summers as a beach lifeguard.