BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Hilton Hotels Corp. announced Tuesday it has won the bidding for the 2,001-room Bally's Casino Resort in Reno, Nev., and plans to develop it into a major themed destination resort.
Hilton's offer of $83 million, plus assumption of certain liabilities, was the winning bid in a sale proceeding conducted by the federal bankruptcy court supervising Bally's Grand Inc., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last October.
'This decision by the court is a confirmation of the quality Hilton brings to hotel-casino properties both in Nevada and in other parts of the world,' said Barron Hilton, chairman and president.
The acquisition, expected to close by the end of July, is subject to the approval of Nevada gaming authorities.
The hotel-casino, located on 143 acres near Reno's airport, has a 100,000-square-foot casino, 50-lane bowling alley, 452-space RV park and 50 shops. It is the largest resort in the Reno area.
'We intend to put our creative and managerial expertise to work to make this one of the flagship resort properties in the Hilton system,' said John V. Giovenco, president of Hilton's gaming division.
Hilton's plans for the resort include a 1,000-room expansion, installation of a race and sports book and a complete refurbishment of guest rooms, restaurants and public space. The hotel-casino will be renamed the 'Reno Hilton Resort.'
'The new resort will be one of the largest in the West, and certainlyo Hilton in Reno, with 600 rooms and a 45,000-square-foot casino.
Hilton had last month offered $73 million, $3 million above a bid from Nevada casino operator Harvey's Wagon Wheel. Harvey's final bid on Tuesday was $81 million.
If the Hilton deal goes through, it will own five Nevada casinos. Besides the two properties in Reno, it also runs two casinos in Las Vegas and one in Laughlin.
Bally Grand's parent, Bally Manufacturing Corp., announced last month it would sell the Reno casino to Harvey's Wagon Wheel for $70 million. Harvey's owns and operates the 740-room Harvey's Resort Hotel-Casino in Lake Tahoe, Nev.
Bally's Grand Inc. also owns and operates Bally's Casino Resort-Las Vegas. Another subsidiary owns and operates Bally's Grand Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., and is not affected by the bankruptcy of Bally's Grand Inc. or the sale of Bally's Casino Resort-Reno.
Chicago-based Bally Manufacturing posted first-quarter earnings of $4.5 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with $27.9 million, or 86 cents a share. Revenues for the quarter grew to $370.8 million from $366.5 million a year ago.
Hilton has been trying to expand its gambling operations. It has submitted a bid to New Orleans authorities to build a $300 million casino and it recently won authorization to open its second casino in Australia.
Hilton, citing improvement in casino operations and gains in domestic travel, posted first-quarter earnings of $22.2 million, or 46 cents a share, up 80 percent from earnings of $12.3 million, or 26 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
First-quarter revenues for Hilton, which owns, operates or franchises about 260 hotels, were $276.3 million, up 4 percent from $266.9 million for the year-ago quarter.
