text: ITT Corp. met with financial advisers on Thursday to assess an unsolicited $6.5 billion bid from Hilton Hotels Corp., while some Wall Street analysts said the company's best defence might be to pursue an acquisition.
  Industry experts said ITT might be able to stave off the takeover if it made a large casino or hotel purchase.
  "ITT is a company with a lot of friends on Wall Street and a lot of investment bankers and there are a lot of players in the gaming industry who would like to trade up to a higher quality," said Thomas Ryan of Bankers Trust.
  Although ITT is widely expected to reject the offer, sources close to the company said no decision had been made and no acquisition talks were being held. ITT's board will consider the bid at a regularly-scheduled board meeting next Tuesday.
  ITT declined to comment.
  On Monday, Hilton offered to buy ITT in a stock and cash transaction that values the company at $55 per share. The offer also includes the assumption of $4 billion in debt.
  The stock of New York-based ITT, which soared most of the week on views Hilton would be forced to raise the bid, fell 75 cents to $56.875.
  On Friday, ITT's financial advisers are expected to pore over Hilton's official bid documents that are to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
  An acquisition "certainly would be in keeping with the company's history. (ITT Chairman Rand Araskog) has either got to be a buyer or he's got to let the company go," said Gerry Shapiro, managing director at KPMG Peat Marwick.
  Industry experts said a sizable acquisition by ITT would thwart Hilton's takeover plan by making the purchase price too costly. In a telephone conference call with reporters earlier this week, Hilton Chief Executive Officer Stephen Bollenbach vowed the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based company would only pursue transactions that added to earnings.
  Industry experts speculated that one of the most attractive acquisition candidates would be Harrah's Entertainment Inc. which has long been considered ripe to participate in industry consolidation.
  A spokesman for Harrah's declined to comment.
  An acquisition would also further solidify Araskog's role at the company he has run since 1979. He ran the ITT conglomerate and then took over the hotel, entertainment and gambling portion of the company when it split into three pieces in 1995.
  "I think Rand Araskog doesn't want to give up his job.," said Forum Capital Markets analyst Philip Platek, who also speculated that ITT could buy a gambling or lodging company.
  