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Park Place Quiet about Plans for New Orleans Casino

LOUISIANA – As reported by the (Louisiana) Times-Picayune: "Another quarter and another earnings report have gone by, and Park Place Entertainment Corp. has had nothing to say about its plans for the ailing Bally's Casino New Orleans.

"After the Las Vegas company this year bought out Norbert Simmons, its local partner in the eastern New Orleans riverboat casino, many expected Park Place to invest money in the financially troubled property, which was neglected during a several-year lawsuit between the two parties.

"That hasn't happened, and when Park Place announced during the summer that it would change its name next year to Caesars Entertainment Inc. and concentrate on new development opportunities, some Wall Street financial analysts surmised that Park Place would sell Bally's New Orleans and other marginal properties to free up capital for more productive investments.

"…According to the company's financial statement, Bally's New Orleans generated $14 million in net revenue during the quarter ended Sept. 30 and had an operating loss of $1 million. Bally's New Orleans had the lowest revenue of any of Park Place's U.S. casinos. In Park Place management's discussion of each region in its report, the company mentioned all seven of its properties in the Mid-South region except Bally's New Orleans.

"…But Marc Falcone, a casino analyst at Deutsche Bank in New York, said Park Place's silence on Bally's doesn't necessarily mean the casino is for sale.

"…This month, the Las Vegas Review-Journal quoted the development director of a privately held Kentucky hotel company, Columbia Sussex Corp., as saying that it had looked at acquiring the Las Vegas Hilton, the Reno Hilton and the Flamingo Hilton Laughlin in Nevada, as well as Bally's New Orleans…"

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