19 new bidders join game to win Revel

NINETEEN WOULD-BE buyers of Atlantic City's former Revel Casino Hotel have expressed interest in acquiring the shuttered seaside gambling hall.

To them, Revel's lawyers had a simple response yesterday in Camden: Show us the money.

A federal bankruptcy court judge will decide today whether to approve its sale. Glenn Straub's Polo North Country Club has an $82 million deal to buy the casino from Revel AC. The casino cost $2.4 billion to build.

But even if Judge Gloria Burns sanctions the sale, the contract contains a loophole that allows Revel to accept a better offer if one comes along before the scheduled March 31 closing date.

At least two other would-be buyers have said they want to be considered: Los Angeles developer Izek Shomof and New York private equity investor Jeffrey Keating.

Ramy Ibrahim, senior vice president of Revel's investment bankers Moelis & Co., said that 19 parties had contacted the firm since last week, including seven new would-be bidders who had not previously been heard from. Of the seven, Ibrahim said: "None of them were able to validate who they were, who they were representing. In our opinion, at the end of the day, they were not real buyers."

Stuart Brown, a lawyer for Revel's power plant, said he has spoken with five other potential buyers "that Moelis doesn't know about."

Thomas Kreller, a lawyer for lender Wells Fargo, urged the judge to approve the one and only deal that involves actual money; Straub has put the entire $82 million purchase price in an escrow account.

"Right now, there is nothing else out there," he told the judge. "The $82 million is the bird in the hand. Quite frankly, there is nothing in the bush."

Revel attorney John Cunningham also urged the judge not to wait for potential offers from "illusory buyers" who thus far have refused to put up any money.

"We can't send this estate down the rabbit hole of no buyer, no purchaser, just a total train wreck," he said.

Kurt Wynne, an attorney for Shomof, said that scenario has already occurred. He asked the judge to leave the door open for his client, who he insisted remains interested in Revel.

"It already is a train wreck," Wynne said. "The only question is 'Can we put the fire out?"'

Shomof hadn't submitted a bid as of yesterday and did not respond to follow-up requests from Moelis, Ibrahim said.

Keating said he is putting together a private equity group to buy Revel, reopen it as a casino and add amenities, including amusement rides.

Straub said he is the only one to put money on the table.

Meanwhile, Atlantic City's February casino revenue declined by 14.8 percent compared with a year ago, when there were 11 casinos operating instead of the current eight.

Even the eight surviving casinos saw their revenue fall by 1.9 percent compared with February 2014. The casinos won $178.4 million in February, a month beset by snowy weather.

Internet gambling brought in $10.4 million in February. That's up nearly 1 percent from a year ago, but it was hurt by a $1.5 million jackpot won by a player on the betfaircasino.com site.

Four of Atlantic City's 12 casinos shut down in 2014, and three of the survivors are currently in bankruptcy.