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ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — As one Atlantic City casino after another shut down and left thousands of workers jobless, Mayor Don Guardian insisted that the meltdown that claimed four of his city's 12 casinos since January was actually the opportunity of a lifetime for savvy investors.
On Wednesday, someone finally agreed.
A Canadian asset management company won a bankruptcy court auction for the failed Revel casino hotel and announced plans to re-open it as a casino. Toronto-based Brookfield US Holdings will pay $110 million to buy the 2-year-old casino that cost $2.4 billion to build, adding it to casinos it owns in Las Vegas and the Bahamas.
"These are the first people that realized what I've been saying about Atlantic City turning the corner and being a great investment due to the low prices," Guardian told The Associated Press on Wednesday, hours after the successful bid was announced. "We've had a lot of bad news. This is certainly some good news."
But this being Revel, for which nothing has ever come easily in its 2 ½-year history, the good news was tempered by concern about the would-be buyers' financial situation in Las Vegas, where it owns the Hard Rock casino. Brookfield told securities regulators in August that it was unable to make an interest payment due that month, and was trying to work things out with its lenders, who could demand immediate repayment of nearly $1 billion in debt.
Brookfield spokesman Andrew Willis said the negotiations underway for the Hard Rock property will not affect its ability to complete the Revel purchase, which needs to be approved by a bankruptcy court judge on Oct. 7. It also owns the Atlantis Paradise Island casino in the Bahamas.
In an auction that began Tuesday morning and lasted until early Wednesday, an opposing bidder, Florida developer Glenn Straub, was selected as the backup bidder in case Brookfield did not close on the deal.
Read entire article here.
On Wednesday, someone finally agreed.
A Canadian asset management company won a bankruptcy court auction for the failed Revel casino hotel and announced plans to re-open it as a casino. Toronto-based Brookfield US Holdings will pay $110 million to buy the 2-year-old casino that cost $2.4 billion to build, adding it to casinos it owns in Las Vegas and the Bahamas.
"These are the first people that realized what I've been saying about Atlantic City turning the corner and being a great investment due to the low prices," Guardian told The Associated Press on Wednesday, hours after the successful bid was announced. "We've had a lot of bad news. This is certainly some good news."
But this being Revel, for which nothing has ever come easily in its 2 ½-year history, the good news was tempered by concern about the would-be buyers' financial situation in Las Vegas, where it owns the Hard Rock casino. Brookfield told securities regulators in August that it was unable to make an interest payment due that month, and was trying to work things out with its lenders, who could demand immediate repayment of nearly $1 billion in debt.
Brookfield spokesman Andrew Willis said the negotiations underway for the Hard Rock property will not affect its ability to complete the Revel purchase, which needs to be approved by a bankruptcy court judge on Oct. 7. It also owns the Atlantis Paradise Island casino in the Bahamas.
In an auction that began Tuesday morning and lasted until early Wednesday, an opposing bidder, Florida developer Glenn Straub, was selected as the backup bidder in case Brookfield did not close on the deal.
Read entire article here.
