Goldberg reassures workers

Friday, Sept. 24, 1999 | 10:41 a.m.

Las Vegas Hilton employees worried about job security at the 3,200-room hotel-casino received assurances from Park Place Entertainment Inc. President Arthur Goldberg on Thursday that no sale is imminent.

The Sun reported Wednesday that at least two major lodging companies and one private investor have been eyeing the Hilton and that Park Place might be willing to sell at the right price.

When it completes the $3 billion Caesars World acquisition in November, Park Place will take over Caesars Palace, which controls about 25 percent of the high-end baccarat business in Las Vegas. Park Place plans to spend at least $85 million upgrading Caesars and is considering building another hotel tower at the Strip resort.

The Las Vegas Hilton competes for high-end play, though it's lost market share to Caesars, MGM Grand, Bellagio, Rio and Mandalay Bay. Thus selling the off-Strip property might make sense, analysts say.

"If they sold it, we wouldn't shed any tears," Jason Ader of Bear Stearns & Co. told Bloomberg News Thursday.

In an interoffice memo distributed Thursday to Las Vegas Hilton workers, Goldberg wrote, "We are approached regularly by individuals and companies who are interested in buying one or more of our properties."

One of those approaches was made recently by an individual who owns another gaming property, but who requested anonymity in discussions with the Sun.

"This leads to the kind of speculation we saw yesterday in the media," the memo said. Goldberg added that Park Place isn't "actively marketing" the Hilton, "nor do we have an agreement to sell the property."

Park Place stock was off 25 cents a share, to $10.75, in midday trading today.