I came across this article off the wire. Do you think this will have any impact of tournaments in general? Penn National mulls Harrah's takeover bid Group led by Pennsylvania-based gaming company and hedge fund D.E. Shaw could follow a $15.5 billion offer made almost two months ago. November 29 2006: 7:40 AM EST PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) -- A group led by Penn National Gaming and hedge fund D.E. Shaw is considering making a cash and stock offer for casino company Harrah's, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday. Lehman Brothers (Charts) and Wachovia (Charts) would provide financing and have some equity in the company if a deal went ahead, the source said. News of the possible bid by Penn National, the third-largest gaming company in the United States, was first reported on television. Terms of the potential offer were not immediately available. Talk of a new offer for Harrah's comes almost two months after private equity firms Apollo Management and Texas Pacific Group offered to buy the casino operator for about $15 billion. The two firms have since raised their offer to about $15.5 billion. Penn National, which owns and operates horse-racing parks and casinos, has a market capitalization of $3.3 billion. That is a fraction of the $14.2 billion market capitalization of Harrah's, which owns or manages more than 40 casinos under the Harrah's, Caesars and Horseshoe brand names. Harrah's, which has said only that a committee of non-management directors is reviewing the original bid, declined comment Tuesday. A representative for Penn did not immediately return a call seeking comment. D.E. Shaw declined comment. Representatives for Wachovia and Lehman were not immediately available. Shares of Penn National (Charts) closed at $38.16, down 58 cents, or 1.5 percent. Shares of Harrah's (Charts) closed at $78.46, up $1.91, or 2.5 percent.
