CASINOS

COLONY CAPITAL OFFERS TO BUY CASINO OPERATOR AZTAR

Colony Capital will offer $41 per share for casino operator Aztar Corporation, three weeks after the company entered an agreement to be acquired by rival casino operator Pinnacle Entertainment, according to people familiar with the matter.

On March 14, Pinnacle offered $38 per share – about $1.45 billion – and agreed to assume about $723 million in debt for Phoenix-based Aztar. Aztar owns and operates its flagship Tropicana hotel-casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J. Los Angeles-based Colony, a closely held real estate firm, already owns the Las Vegas and Atlantic City Hilton hotel-casinos.

– Dow Jones Newswires

IN THE COURTS

MORGAN WINS REVERSAL OF RESTRAINING ORDER ON RECRUITING

A state judge lifted a restraining order yesterday that restricted two Morgan Stanley executives from recruiting brokers from its rival Merrill Lynch.

The temporary order against Morgan Stanley retail head James Gorman and one of his newly recruited colleagues was put in place last week. Mr. Gorman until last summer ran Merrill Lynch’s retail business. “We’re disappointed,” a Merrill Lynch spokesman, Mark Herr, said.

– Dow Jones Newswires

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ISSUED SUBPOENAS TO AT LEAST 34 COMPANIES

The U.S. Department of Justice issued subpoenas to at least 34 technology companies in addition to Google, Microsoft, Time Warner, and Yahoo last year in its effort to defend the Child Online Protection Act, according to InformationWeek.

Targets of the subpoenas included AT&T, BellSouth, Cablevision Systems, Comcast, Computer Associates, Cox Communications, EarthLink, LookSmart, McAfee, Secure Computing, Symantec, United Online, and Verizon Communications.

– Dow Jones Newswires

EX-KPMG PARTNERS ASK FOR DISMISSAL IN TAX SHELTER CASE

Lawyers for a group of ex-KPMG partners and other individuals asked a federal judge in Manhattan yesterday to dismiss conspiracy and tax-evasion charges connected with an alleged tax-shelter fraud scheme that helped wealthy individuals avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes.

– Dow Jones Newswires

IN BRIEF

Citigroup led Forbes magazine’s annual Global 2000 company list, which ranks companies based on sales, profits, assets, and market value, for a third consecutive year … Gold and silver prices surged to the highest level since the early 1980s … Washington will become the second state to require use of biodiesel, a fuel produced from vegetables and animal fats, to boost the agriculture industry and reduce consumption of oil.

– Bloomberg News