CAESARS WORLD <CAW> RESTRUCTURING SEEN
Caesars World Inc is likely to seek
out a friendly suitor or restructure operations to fight off
the unsolicited takeover offer by investor Martin Sosnoff,
securities analysts said.
    "They could be talking to a "white knight" right now," said
Janney Scott Montgomery Inc analyst Marvin Roffman, adding.
"That would be my best guess."
    Analysts also said other options for Caesars could include
a restructuring or a buyback of Sosnoff's 13.6 pct holdings.
    Earlier today, Caesars World announced that its board
unanimously rejected a 28 dlr per share, or 725.2 mln dlr,
takeover offer from MTS Acquisition Corp, a company formed by
Sosnoff.
    The company also said it will explore a variety of
alternative transactions but did not elaborate.
    In announcing the rejection, Caesars said the offer was
inadequate given the company's financial condition, future
prospects and current market conditions.
    A Caesars spokesman said the company expects to file a
14D-9 with the Securities and Exchange Commission later today
with more information on its analysis of the Sosnoff offer.
    Analysts are generally bullish on the outlook for Caesars
World and some have placed the value of Caesars stock at from
32 to 35 dlrs per share.
    They have also asserted that Sosnoff is not likely to
succeed with the unsolicited bid unless he raises his offering
price to a higher level.
    Caesars World's stock is up 1-1/8 today at 29-1/8.
    Janney Montgomery's Roffman believes potential suitors for
the hotel/casino company could be Golden Nugget Inc <GNG>, or
Tracinda Corp, a company controlled by investor Kirk Kirkorian.
    Golden Nugget has a good deal of cash on hand as the result
of the sale of its Atlantic City, N.J., casino to Bally
Manufacturing Corp <BLY>, Roffman said.
    Earlier this month Golden Nugget completed its sale of the
Atlantic City property for 440 mln dlrs.
    Roffman also believes Kerkorian is interested in getting
involved in the gaming business.
    Mark Manson, an analyst at Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette, said
options available to Ceasars also include a restructuring in
the form of a selloff of individual properties, a stock buyback
or forming a master limited partnership.
    "Very few of these options would weaken the value of the
company," Manson said, but he declined to speculate on which
approach Caesars might take.
 Reuter
