Louisiana Casino Changes Hands After Tropicana Purchase
Carl Icahn received control of a number of regional casinos as part of the package when he placed the only bid on the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City two weeks ago. Now, one of those casinos has been sold, as the Amelia Belle riverboat in Louisiana will be bought by Peninsula Gaming.The deal, which must still meet regulatory approval of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, brings the Morgan City casino under the control of the operator of the Evangeline Downs race track and casino in Opelousas. Peninsula also controls two riverboat gambling venues in Iowa.
The purchase price for the Amelia Belle is $106.5 million. Peninsula officials say they hope to close the deal by September.
Icahn took over Tropicana Casino and Resorts after placing a lowball stakinghorse bid with the bankruptcy court running the resort's sale. After two weeks without an opposing bid, Icahn and partners assumed control of the New Jersey casino, along with regional outlets, in exchange for $200 million in debt forgiveness.
The riverboat was originally established in New Orleans, but moved to Morgan City to avoid the stiff competition provided by Harrah's New Orleans, the state's one land-based casino. It opened in Morgan City in May of 2007.
Recent Comments
| Posted by: Hud Englehart | When: 06/24/2009 09:01:13 AM EST |
| this is so wrong. amelia belle was not part of tropicana entertainment bankruptcy and is now being sold by bill yung, the former owner of trop entertainment and the still owner of tropicana casinos and resorts and thus the amelia belle. icahn won aproval to purchase tropicana casino in new jersey NOT trop casinos and resorts, the yung company that owns amelia belle, or trop entertainment, in which he has a large shareholding. someone ought to do some fact checking before hitting print buttons. | |
| Posted by: Ed Bradley | When: 06/24/2009 12:05:12 PM EST |
| from the Associated Press, June 23rd: "Peninsula Gaming LLC says it hopes to complete the deal with Tropicana Casino and Resorts in September." from the Wall Street Journal, June 13th: "A bankruptcy judge Friday approved the sale of Tropicana Casino & Resorts in Atlantic City, N.J., to a group of lenders that includes billionaire Carl Icahn." from Bloomberg, June 1st: "The Icahn-led group getting the Atlantic City property will also get casinos in Indiana, Louisiana and Mississippi." Tropicana Entertainment is the company to which you are referring (of which Bill Yung is no longer a part), the corporation that tried unsuccessfully to recapture the Atlantic City resort. Also, the Tropicana in Las Vegas is in the process of being bought by Onex Corporation, only waiting on regulatory approval. Hope this clears up your confusion, easy to understand considering the repeated use of the name "Tropicana." | |
