By Adam Steinhauer
Bloomberg
Park Place Entertainment Corp., the world's largest casino company, could look to buy properties in Illinois, Detroit
or Las Vegas when it's ready to pursue acquisitions again, its chief financial officer said.
Park Place also announced several management changes for its Western region on Tuesday.
The company is concentrating on combining the business of Caesars World, the casino chain it bought for $3 billion
last month, with its own. When that's done, Park Place is likely to pursue more acquisitions, CFO Scott LaPorta
said.
"It'll take a couple of months to make sure everything gets pulled together," LaPorta said in a Bloomberg
Forum interview. "But we'll keep our eyes open for assets if we can get them at the right price."
The Caesars World acquisition is the third major purchase engineered by Park Place CEO Arthur Goldberg in little
more than three years. Park Place is one of the biggest casino operators in the three largest U.S. gambling markets
-- Las Vegas, Atlantic City and Mississippi.
Las Vegas-based Park Place could look to enter the Illinois market, Detroit or to buy more properties in Las Vegas
"to name a few" possibilities, LaPorta said.
The area around Chicago is the fourth-largest U.S. gambling market, analysts have said. Park Place doesn't have
a property there.
It also doesn't have a property in Detroit. Only three casino licenses have been issued in Detroit, where legal
gambling was allowed for the first time last year. The lack of competition is expected to make Detroit a lucrative
market, analysts said.
Among the management changes announced Tuesday, Dean Harrold, president of the Las Vegas Hilton since 1997, was
named Tuesday to take over as president of Caesars Palace. Harrold was previously an executive vice president at
Bally's and, before joining Bally's, was with Caesars World Branch Marketing.
William Bigelow, president of the Flamingo Hilton Laughlin, will replace Harrold effective Feb. 2. Bigelow, a 20-year
veteran of the company, was named to his current position in 1995 after serving as vice president and general manager
of the Flamingo Hilton Las Vegas.
Darryl Dauenhauer has been named president of the Flamingo Hilton Laughlin where he currently serves as vice president
of casino operations. Dauenhauer has worked at the Laughlin casino since it opened in 1990.
Park Place was formed in December 1998 when Hilton Hotels Corp. spun off its casino business into the new company.
Goldberg sold his former company, Bally Entertainment Corp., to Hilton in December 1996 and stayed on to run the
combined gambling business. He acquired Grand Casinos, the biggest casino operator in Mississippi, for $835 million
last year. He then bought Caesars World for $3 billion from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
LaPorta said Park Place is likely to meet analysts estimates of its fourth-quarter earnings. Park Place is projected
to earn 11 cents per share, the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial.
Park Place shares rose 69 cents to $11.94 Tuesday.