Casino set for London, Vegas still in picture

Thursday, April 13, 2000 | 11:01 a.m.

Playboy Enterprises Inc. returned to the gaming business today, announcing a deal with Ladbroke Casinos Ltd. to develop a Playboy Casino Club in London. The property is set to open in 2001, pending regulatory approvals.

Playboy's London casino clubs first opened in the 1960s, with the last club closing in the early 1980s. The company's gaming division is located in Las Vegas.

"We are thrilled with the prospect of returning to London, where we were so successful in the past, and we anticipate Playboy becoming the gaming experience destination of the new millennium," said Christie Hefner, Playboy's chairwoman and chief executive.

Playboy will own 19.9 percent of the club, with Ladbroke holding the remaining 80.1 percent interest. Playboy has the option to acquire up to 49 percent equity.

Although Playboy's casino will be in London, a company spokesman said today that the company remains keenly interested in opening a Las Vegas property.

"Clearly, we have been thinking seriously about and quietly exploring opportunities to come to Las Vegas, though there's nothing tangible at this point," said spokesman Bill Farley. "The opportunity to have a full-scale Playboy Club in Las Vegas ... to overlook that would be like a mountaineer overlooking Mt. Everest.

"You simply have to have that as part of the equation."