Trop casino gets extension for sale
ATLANTIC CITY - The New Jersey Casino Control Commission extended the sale deadline of the Tropicana casino here until April 30.
ATLANTIC CITY - The New Jersey Casino Control Commission extended the sale deadline of the Tropicana casino here until April 30.
The commission also gave the trustee and a group of lenders until March 30 to finalize a purchase-asset agreement that would clear the way for a bankruptcy auction of the casino.
Gary Stein, Tropicana trustee and former New Jersey Supreme Court justice, has been trying to sell the casino since December 2007 when its then-owner, William Yung III, was determined by the state to be unqualified to own a casino in New Jersey.
The casino has continued to operate.
"Their time frames are reasonable," Gil Brooks, attorney for a group of secured lenders for the Tropicana, said after the hearing. "By March 27, there will either be a deal or no deal. We'll know by then."
Sean Mack, the lawyer representing Stein, also was pleased with the extension, calling it "reasonable and realistic."
The commission will meet again on the Tropicana on April 15.
The five commissioners were clearly weary of the number of extensions sought to sell the troubled property, and made it obvious today that they wanted the deadlines to be followed.
"Building in a two-week buffer seems prudent," said Linda Kassekert, who chairs the five-member commission. "However, I and the other commissioners will pay particular heed to ensure that diversionary tactics aimed at needless delay do not supplant the process."
The original bidding process for the casino began in mid-February 2008, but the financial crisis complicated and prolonged the sale process.
Baltimore-based Cordish Co. had offered $700 million in cash and stock, or $575 million in an all-cash deal, for the Tropicana last fall.
But the company took that offer off the table when the economy worsened and other opportunities opened up. Gaming experts suggest that Cordish is now eyeing one of the slots licenses in Maryland and may concentrate its financial resources there.
Among the Tropicana's secured lenders is developer Carl Icahn, whose company, Icahn & Associates, told the five-member commission last month that it would be willing to bid on the Tropicana in a bankruptcy court auction as the "stalking horse," or minimum bid.
Icahn, ranked as one of the richest men in the world by Forbes Magazine, once owned the Sands Hotel Casino on the Boardwalk here. He sold that casino and the adjacent land to Pinnacle Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas in January 2007 for $275 million.
The Sands was imploded in October 2007, but the land remains vacant. The new Pinnacle mega-casino was among four projects proposed for Atlantic City that were indefinitely put on hold because of the lending crisis.
Regional slots competition, primarily in Pennsylvania, has also chipped away at the seaside gambling resort's fortunes. Atlantic City suffered its largest year-over-year decline in 31 years of hosting casinos with a 19.2 percent decrease in revenue last month.
The Tropicana took in $25.3 million in revenues last month, compared with $31.3 million the previous year, representing a 19.2 percent decrease.
