Last week the world's largest casino company changed its name to Caesars Entertainment Corp., completing a move it first announced just as the industry began deep and prolonged economic struggles. The privately held company formerly known as Harrah's Entertainment Inc. said Harrah's would continue to be one of the company's brands, along with Caesars, Horseshoe, Total Rewards and the World Series of Poker.

“In recognition of Caesars’ status as the world’s preeminent and most respected casino brand, we have changed the name of our parent company to Caesars Entertainment Corporation,” said Gary Loveman, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Caesars Entertainment. “The change reflects our evolution as the industry's leading provider of branded casino entertainment.”

Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, more than 70 years ago, Caesars has grown through development of new resorts, expansions and acquisitions, and now operates casinos on four continents. The company's resorts operate primarily under the Harrah's, Caesars and Horseshoe brand names. Caesars also owns the World Series of Poker and the London Clubs International family of casinos. Caesars Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its guests through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership.

Gary Loveman commented, “While our name is changing, our dedication to who we are as a company will remain the same. Our employees will remain dedicated to the innovation, customer-service excellence and corporate citizenship that have been hallmarks of our company for decades. This re-branding of the corporate name can open exciting new opportunities for us in the future."

Company spokeswoman Jan Jones said the move cost less than $1 million and was timed to coincide with the company moving beyond its toughest struggles. "We were looking for a time when we really felt we had made it through the most difficult times of the economic downturn, where we could really talk about our vision going forward," Jones said. "We've reformulated our businesses to both survive the economic downturn and put us into a position to be very successful as the economy begins to turn."

The name change comes days after Harrah's cancelled plans for an initial public offering. If it had sold the shares in the midpoint of its intended range, it would have raised $469.4 million after expenses. The money from the cancelled stock offering was earmarked for several projects, including a dining and entertainment area linking the Imperial Palace and Flamingo casino-resorts on the east side of the Las Vegas Strip, and a still-unfinished hotel tower at Caesars Palace. (E-11.29.10)

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