Brief: Hilton spinoff approved

Thursday, Nov. 19, 1998 | 11:43 a.m.

Hilton and Grand shareholders will vote Tuesday on the split and merger, which would result in a new publicly traded gaming company called Park Place Entertainment. Hilton would remain a public company involved solely in the lodging business.

Park Place will be headed by Arthur Goldberg, the acquisition-minded executive who joined Hilton when that company acquired Bally Entertainment.

Goldberg has been chaffing under what he perceives as artificial constraints to grow afforded by the hotel business and is expected to continue looking for gaming takeover candidates as the industry's consolidation progresses.

Park Place would have a $2.5 billion credit line to help finance acquisitions. Analysts expect the gaming company to produce more than $700 million in annual cash flow.

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