$15 Billion Deal for Harrah’s May Put Other Casinos Into Play

Their pockets bulging with cash, private equity firms have found a new business where they can place their multibillion-dollar bets: gambling.

Harrah’s Entertainment, the largest casino operator in the world, said yesterday that Apollo Management and the Texas Pacific Group had offered to acquire it for $15.05 billion in cash, or $81 a share. The announcement ignited speculation that the United States gambling business, whose thicket of regulations has traditionally kept investment firms at bay, could attract more such proposals.