Columbia Entertainment to Acquire Aztar for $54 Per Share

Aztar's Tropicana casino resorts in Atlantic City, NJ and LasVegas, NV; Ramada Express casino hotel in Laughlin, NV; and CasinoAztar riverboat casino in Evansville, IN are highly complementary toColumbia Sussex and Columbia Entertainment's 82 hotels and resorts and8 casinos throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, aswell as its new resort and casino property under construction in St.Maarten. Columbia Sussex is the largest licensee of full-serviceMarriott Hotels in the U.S., and owns and operates Marriott, Hilton,Westin, Sheraton, Renaissance and Doubletree branded properties. Thecombined company will have approximately 33,000 rooms and will own andoperate 12 casinos in Nevada, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey,Illinois and Indiana.

"This is a breakthrough transaction for our company which willsignificantly enhance our gaming assets in key growth markets andstrengthen our position as one of the leading owners, developers andoperators of hotels, resorts and casinos," said William J. Yung III,President and CEO of Columbia Sussex. "Aztar's unique assets are aperfect fit with our existing hotel and gaming properties, and we seemany opportunities to improve financial performance by expanding theTropicana brand, finishing the building projects in Indiana andAtlantic City and developing the Las Vegas property. We look forwardto working with Aztar's talented managers and employees to maximizethe potential of these properties as we leverage our 25-year trackrecord as a successful owner, builder and operator."

As previously announced, to underscore its confidence in itsability to close the transaction, Columbia has made a deposit of $313million, payable to Aztar in certain circumstances (including failureto obtain regulatory approval), if the merger agreement is terminated.In addition, Columbia has agreed to increase the purchase price at arate of $0.00888 per day per Aztar common share beginning November 19,2006, if closing has not occurred by that date. The additional dailypayment would increase to $0.01184 per Aztar common share beginningFebruary 19, 2007, if the transaction has not closed by that date.

Columbia obtained its first gaming license in 1990 and has beenlicensed and re-licensed numerous times in Nevada, Louisiana andMississippi. Columbia will seek and expects to receive gaming licensesin New Jersey and Indiana. It will work with Aztar to divest theCasino Aztar riverboat casino in Caruthersville, MO prior to closingthe transaction.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customaryclosing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the year.

Banc of America Securities acted as financial advisor to ColumbiaEntertainment in connection with this transaction, and Credit Suisseis providing debt financing. Katz, Teller, Brant & Hild and Milbank,Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP are acting as legal advisors.

About Columbia Sussex Corporation

Columbia Sussex Corporation and its Columbia Entertainment gamingaffiliate are among the largest privately held owners, developers andoperators of hotel properties and casinos in the world. ColumbiaSussex is the largest licensee of full-service Marriott Hotels in theU.S., and the Company and its affiliates own a total of 82 hotels and8 casinos with approximately 27,000 rooms, including Marriott, Hilton,Westin, Sheraton, Renaissance and Doubletree branded properties acrossthe United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Founded in 1972, theCompany is led by William J. Yung III and owned by Mr. Yung and theYung family. Columbia Sussex Corporation and Columbia Entertainmentare headquartered in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky and have more than 18,000employees worldwide.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

This press release may be deemed to be solicitation material inrespect of the proposed merger of Aztar and Columbia Entertainment. Inconnection with the proposed merger, Aztar plans to file a proxystatement with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF AZTAR ARE ADVISED TO READ THE PROXYSTATEMENT AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC WHENTHEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THOSE DOCUMENTS WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANTINFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED MERGER. The final proxy statement willbe mailed to stockholders of Aztar. Investors and security holders mayobtain a free copy of the proxy statement, when it becomes available,and other documents filed by Aztar with the SEC, at the SEC's web siteat http://www.sec.gov. Free copies of the proxy statement, when itbecomes available, and Aztar's other filings with the SEC may also beobtained from Aztar. Free copies of Aztar's filings may be obtained bydirecting a request to Aztar Corporation, 2390 East Camelback Road,Suite 400, Phoenix, Arizona 85016, Attention: Secretary.

Aztar, Columbia Entertainment and their respective directors,executive officers and other members of their management and employeesmay be deemed to be soliciting proxies from Aztar's stockholders infavor of the proposed merger. Information regarding Aztar's directorsand executive officers is available in Aztar's proxy statement for its2006 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC onApril 10, 2006. Additional information regarding the interests of suchpotential participants will be included in the proxy statement and theother relevant documents filed with the SEC when they becomeavailable.