The Flamingo and Harrah’s Entertainment History Part 3: Private-equity firms purchased Harrah’s Entertainment in 2006, along with The Flamingo, The Linq and all other casino properties, for just over $15 billion dollars. The acquisition eclipsed almost every leveraged buyout in history. The company then traded prime real estate for the Barbary Coast Hotel and Casino, and bought London Clubs International for $568 million. In 2007, a land swap allowed Harrah’s to claim Barbary Coast, renaming it Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall and Saloon, after its company founder.
Harrah’s now owned The Flamingo, The Linq, and half a dozen other casinos, and continued expansion with the 2007 purchase of the Orient Golf Club for $580 million. The following year, its board of directors negotiated a rebranding to Caesar’s Entertainment Corporation, taking advantage of worldwide name recognition in the hopes that it would further validate elite properties like The Linq and The Flamingo. A major victory came in 2009 when successful efforts led them to obtain Planet Hollywood Casino.
Although initial plans had been designed with implosion and rebuilding of many of their properties, Caesar’s Entertainment acknowledged its inexperience with the process and carefully observed the market downturn.
Planet Hollywood, The Flamingo, The Linq and the rest were saved from destruction with the development of Project Link in 2009, an innovative and bold strategy of renovation and expansion along the property between several of its major assets.
Project Link is an attempt to bring the more organic entertainment experience of cities devoid of the casino culture straight onto the Strip, and is arguably the most exciting project to hit Las Vegas in years.
