ITT, Hilton continue takeover fight

      Another inning began Thursday in Hilton Hotels Corp.'s $10.5 billion hostile takeover bid for ITT Corp., the parent company of Caesars World and Sheraton hotels.
      ITT said it will lay off 125 of its 200 headquarters staff employees in New York. It also said it will cut the number of floors it occupies to five from 11 in the New York office building. The layoffs don't affect employees at ITT's Caesars Palace, a spokesman said.
      The staff cuts are part of ITT's strategy for boosting shareholder values, ITT said.
      The company is raising more than $3 billion in cash by selling assets not related to its casino and hotel businesses.
      Since Hilton announced its takeover bid, ITT agreed to sell its stake in French telecommunications company Alcatel Alsthom SA for $530 million. It has agreed to sell its half interest in Madison Square Gardens for $650 million. And it also has postponed development of two casinos with Planet Hollywood International Inc., including one in Las Vegas.
      "The key strategy is to get the price of the stock up," said Marvin Roffman of Roffman Miller Associates in Philadelphia. "Without a question, that's (ITT's) best defense."
      In another development Thursday, Hilton extended the deadline for ITT stockholders to accept its $10.5 billion offer for 50.1 percent of ITT stock, plus assumption of ITT debt. The Beverly Hills, Calif., company said it will buy ITT stock for the previously announced $55 per share for another month, until May 30.
      Hilton said that about 1.5 million ITT shares have been tendered, or about 1 percent of the 122.7 million ITT shares outstanding for $55 a share. Others probably have noticed that ITT stock soared beyond that price since Hilton announced its bid for the company in January.
      ITT closed off 25 cents at $58, and Hilton dropped 50 cents to $26.38 on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.