Harrah’s buying Planet Hollywood’s debt
By ARNOLD M. KNIGHTLY, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Harrah’s Entertainment is buying up the Planet Hollywood Resort’s debt in what an analyst said could be a bid to take over the financially troubled Strip resort.
Sources confirmed this weekend that Harrah’s has purchased a portion of the resort’s $860 million debt that is leveraged against the property.
Officials from Harrah’s and Planet Hollywood Resort declined to comment (Sept. 14).
The Planet Hollywood restaurant at what was Caesars Tahoe , and is now MontBleu, closed years ago.
Brian Gordon, a principal at Applied Analysis, said Harrah’s could be following the recent trend of acquiring casino properties through debt instead of a buyout.
“With covenant and debt defaults looming around for some of these properties, it’s a potential way to gain eventual ownership of a property,†Gordon said.
