From: Nora (dlvdisc@geekbabe.com)
Date: Fri Aug 27 2004 - 11:59:33 CDT
>I was wondering, did someone report that Aladdin is/maybe bought by
>Planet Hollywood or something like that?
See below from Today's Review Journal
Nora
+Friday, August 27, 2004
+Copyright (c) Las Vegas Review-Journal
+New Aladdin owners licensed
+Gaming Commission's unanimous vote clears way for Planet Hollywood
+casino
+_By ED VOGEL REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU _
+Bay Harbour managing principal Douglas Teitelbaum, left, and Planet
+Hollywood Chief Executive Officer Robert Earl talk Thursday during a
+presentation to the Nevada Gaming Commission. The board approved a
+license for Earl and Teitelbaum's group, OpBiz.
+THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
+CARSON CITY -- The bankrupt Aladdin will be converted into the first
+Planet Hollywood Resort Casino under a licensing plan that won
+unanimous approval Thursday from the Nevada Gaming Commission.
+Planet Hollywood, Bay Harbour Management and Starwood Hotels & Resorts
+will operate the Strip resort. They bought the troubled 2,567-room
+hotel last year for $637 million in bankruptcy court.
+With approval from gaming authorities, they intend early Wednesday to
+complete the purchase and assume control of the hotel. The first act of
+the new owners, according to testimony given to gaming commissioners,
+will be to upgrade the dining room used by the Aladdin's 2,600
+employees.
+Planet Hollywood Chief Executive Office Robert Earl said the hotel
+soon will begin booking top entertainers.
+"We support free speech rights and the right of artists to do what
+they like," added Earl in response to commissioners' questions about
+singer Linda Ronstadt.
+Ronstadt angered current Aladdin management in a July performance when
+she dedicated a song to Michael Moore, the maker of "Fahrenheit 911,"
+a movie sharply critical of President Bush. Earl said Ronstadt and
+Moore have been invited to the Aladdin.
+Over the next 15 months, the new owners intend to spend $100 million
+on renovations such as replacing the Aladdin's facade, improving its
+casino and adding restaurants, a 1,300-seat showroom and 500-seat TV
+studio.
+Earl intends to use his entertainment-industry connections to attract
+Hollywood celebrities and celebrity fans to the resort. While the
+Planet Hollywood brand may not be launched before 2006, Earl may
+market the resort as "the Aladdin becoming Planet Hollywood." He
+expects regular live entertainment to be launched at the hotel by the
+third week of September.
+"We are in the game," he said. "We will be transforming a bed
+dormitory into a must-see destination."
+He said the Aladdin enjoys a high occupancy rate, but many guests
+spend a lot of their time gambling in other casinos. Just as happened
+during a hearing before the Gaming Control Board earlier this month,
+gaming commissioners' questioned Earl's business judgments.
+"You are a promoter," commission Chairman Peter Bernhard said. "I
+don't think you pay attention to details."
+He noted that in recent days, agents discovered Earl had not paid
+taxes due for more than a year to the Department of Taxation on his
+restaurant business.
+Earl said he knew nothing about the delinquent taxes and paid them as
+soon as he was told of the problem.
+"I don't think it reflects a pattern," he added. "Coming out of two
+bankruptcies (at Planet Hollywood) I had a depleted work force. I acted
+on it the second I learned."
+His Las Vegas lawyer, Greg Giordano, said that Planet Hollywood
+received only three or four delinquent tax notices, a statement that
+caused Bernhard to insist taxes should have been paid immediately.
+Commissioners had no ill comments about Earl's partners, Bay Harbour
+managing principal Douglas Teitelbaum, and Starwood, returning to the
+gaming industry in Nevada after a four-year absence. Starwood, which
+operates 745 hotels, has a customer database of 14 million people.
+Earl said that list can be used to bring better customers to Planet
+Hollywood, which will be marketed as a Sheraton.
+Teitelbaum had come under criticism two weeks ago at the control board
+meeting because the Deloitte & Touche accounting firm refused to
+release "work papers" developed in auditing his company's investments.
+But Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said agents visited the
+company's New York office this week and were shown the work papers.
+Bernhard also raised questions about whether the partners will meet
+their obligation to pay off loans they used to finance the Aladdin
+purchase. But Commissioner Art Marshall was optimistic about the
+hotel's chances. "What would it cost to replace the Aladdin today?" he
+asked. "Nine hundred million (dollars) to $1 billion," Teitelbaum
+replied.
+"I think you made a great deal," Marshall said. The Aladdin earned
+about $65 million in net income last year, and its new owners expect
+that to fall to $43 million during the construction year. Eventually
+they see the hotel earning about $120 million a year.
+Commissioner John Moran Jr., who attended his first
+meeting, joined the others in approving the licensing for the new
+owners. He replaced longtime Commissioner Augie Gurrola.
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