Players is coy on Hollywood Park bid

Gary Thompson

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 1998 | 11:41 a.m.

Players International Inc. is playing it coy following Hollywood Park Inc.'s $350 million purchase offer.

Players, an Atlantic City-based gaming company operating five riverboat casinos and a Kentucky racetrack, didn't immediately reject Tuesday's unsolicited offer from Hollywood Park.

Instead, it stalled for time with an offer to share financial details with the Inglewood, Calif., company that just a few weeks ago completed a $340 million buyout of Casino Magic Corp.

But Players said it would provide the information only if Hollywood Park signed a confidentiality agreement.

The response irked Hollywood Park Chairman R.D. Hubbard, who said he was "disappointed that Players didn't respond more affirmatively" because the $6-per-share bid represented a 50 percent premium over the recent trading range of Players' stock.

Players said in a statement the company was "dedicated to maximizing value to its shareholders either through the long-term development of its business or, should a sensible transaction be presented to it, through a business combination."

Hollywood Park's offer includes about $210 million cash for Players' outstanding common stock and assumption of about $140 million in debt.

Players shares were unchanged at $5.625 in heavy late-morning trading today after jumping more than a dollar when news of the Hollywood offer broke Tuesday. The stock, which was as low as $3.25 a few weeks ago, has traded between $2.4375 and $6 a share over the past year.

Hollywood Park shares were down 12.5 cents to $10.3125 in midday trading.

Players executives were in St. Louis for a board meeting today to consider the Hollywood Park offer and other options and couldn't be reached for comment. Hollywood Park executives also were unavailable for comment.

Since taking over Hollywood Park several years ago, Hubbard has embarked on an ambitious program to expand the company's holdings beyond its California racetrack and card room.

Last year, the company acquired Boomtown Inc., which has casinos in Reno, New Orleans and Biloxi. Hollywood Park also operates the Turf Paradise track in Phoenix and has a management contract with an Indian casino in Toppenish, Wash.

The Casino Magic purchase gave Hollywood Park dockside and riverboat gaming properties in Bay St. Louis, Miss.; Biloxi and Bossier City, La.; and a 51 percent stake in two land-based casinos in Argentina.

If its bid for Players is successful, Hollywood would add a riverboat casino in Metropolis, Ill., two riverboat casinos in Lake Charles, La., and two dockside casinos in Maryland Heights, Mo., that function as one facility.

Players reported third-quarter net income of $3.4 million, or 11 cents a share, on revenue of $87.3 million. That was up from net of $2.1 million, or 7 cents a share, on $82.6 million in revenue in the 1997 third period.

Hollywood Park posted third-quarter net of $2 million, or 8 cents a share, on revenue of $87.5 million. The results are about equal to the year-earlier period's.

Earlier this year, it negotiated an expansion of its bank credit facility to $300 million.