Harrah’s Entertainment continues expanding, but apparently, taking over the entire Free World just isn’t enough for them. It now looks likely that Harrah’s will take on China (i.e. Macau) as well.

The company has its eye on Melco Crown Entertainment, a company that owns the Macau’s City of Dreams and the Altira Macau. Harrah’s is “acutely interested” in buying a 32.5% stake, which Australian billionaire James Packer’s gaming company, Crown Ltd., has put on the market.

Melco Crown Entertainment’s co-chairman and co-chief executive officer is Lawrence Ho, son of Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho.

Up until this point, Harrah’s has been shut out of Macau gaming world, whereas MGM Mirage, Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Wynn Resorts Ltd. have already set up shop. In 2007, Harrah’s paid over $577 million for the 175-acre Macau Orient Golf Course. The gold course was later rebranded Caesars Golf Macau after its $26 million redevelopment in 2008. In terms of getting into the Macau casino biz, purchasing the Melco Crown stake might be an effective backdoor for Harrah’s.