Harrah’s to Buy Horseshoe Gaming

ENTERTAINMENT

Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. said it would pay $917 million in cash to buy Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corp., the operator of three casinos in the South and Midwest.

Las Vegas-based Harrah’s, whose shares rose 2.7%, also will assume about $533 million in debt, taking the price to $1.45 billion in a deal that Harrah’s said would boost profit immediately.

Most analysts endorsed the deal, although it puts a higher value on Horseshoe than its rivals and includes properties in overlapping markets.

Tinley Park, Ill.-based Horseshoe owns casinos in Hammond, Ind., near Chicago; Tunica, Miss.; and Shreveport-Bossier City, La. It was founded by Jack Binion, the son of Benny Binion, founder of Binion’s Horseshoe hotel-casino in downtown Las Vegas. That hotel-casino is not part of the deal.

Harrah’s shares rose $1.08 to $40.95 on the NYSE.