Bankruptcy judge says unnamed lender could provide funds
Friday, June 19, 2009
With an unidentified party possibly willing to loan money to the bankrupt Fontainebleau Las Vegas resort, a bankruptcy judge has ordered Fontainebleau and banks it is suing to enter mediation in hopes of resolving their disputes.
Even as the stalled Fontainebleau casino resort tries to reorganize its finances in Miami bankruptcy court, lawsuits over unpaid bills for the project are accumulating in Las Vegas outside of the bankruptcy process.
Fontainebleau Resort officials said a bankruptcy judge in Miami on Wednesday agreed to expedite the court's handling of a dispute pitting the bankrupt Las Vegas property against bank lenders that cut off funding for the $2.9 billion project, causing it to halt construction.
Developers have acquired the site of the old Holy Cow! restaurant and brewery on Las Vegas Boulevard at Sahara Avenue and plan to build a Times Square-like retail and gaming center there.
Bank lenders for the first time have publicly disclosed why they declared the $2.9 billion Fontainebleau resort in Las Vegas in default on its construction loan and shut off funding. Tuesday, they cited hundreds of millions of dollars in cost overruns and possible misrepresentations by the hotel-casino developer.
Project planned near the base of the pyramids close to Cairo
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
MGM Mirage today announced an agreement to bring its MGM Grand hotel brand to Egypt -- the second such deal in a month for the company in the Middle East. Las Vegas-based MGM Mirage and an Egyptian company announced plans to develop the MGM Grand New Giza.
Bank of America moved to protect the interests of bank lenders Thursday in the Fontainebleau resort bankruptcy case, with B of A seeking a revision in a plan by Fontainebleau to use $201 million for operating expenses during the bankruptcy process.
The owner of the Cannery casinos in Las Vegas is suing the owner of a Web site that Cannery says infringes on its name -- and then links to competing hotel-casino Web sites.
Investors in the bankrupt Fontainebleau resort's debt may not recover much of their money through the bankruptcy process, debt rating agencies said Wednesday.
International Game Technology continues to be pressured by the U.S. recession as casinos buy fewer slot machines and consumers gamble less, two credit rating agencies indicated Wednesday.
The bankrupt Fontainebleau resort moved Wednesday for a quick resolution of its dispute with bank lenders. Fontainebleau Las Vegas LLC said it filed a motion for partial summary judgment in its lawsuit against its revolver loan lenders. The motion asked a Miami bankruptcy judge for an expedited hearing on Fontainebleau's claim those lenders breached their commitment to lend $656 million to the project.
Even as the $2.9 billion Las Vegas Fontainebleau resort moved into bankruptcy Tuesday, a new lawsuit was filed over the development -- this one pitting numerous lenders against each other. Bank of America and other banks were sued Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas by about 120 investment companies that have loaned money to the project.
Australian casino resort company Crown Ltd. today said it wrote off its $250 million, 19.6 percent ownership interest in the now-bankrupt Fontainebleau resort development on the Las Vegas Strip. "Crown also holds debt in Fontainebleau of U.S. $22 million. Crown will review the carrying value of its Fontainebleau debt at 30 June 2009, but expects that it will be written down to nil," the company, based in Melbourne, said in a statement. "Crown is under no obligation and has no current intention to contribute any further equity or debt to Fontainebleau or participate in any restructuring under any bankruptcy arrangements."
Official: Resort hopes to secure funds to finish project, restructure debt
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The developer of the stalled Fontainebleau resort on the Las Vegas Strip filed for bankruptcy protection today in Miami, a spokesman said. The company has been in a dispute with banks that refused to provide financing to continue the project over an unspecified event of default in a loan agreement.
Las Vegas-based casino supplier Shuffle Master Inc. today said its second quarter profit rose, even as it made hefty severance payments and struggling casinos purchased fewer card-shuffling devices.
An investor in Henderson's bankrupt City Crossing project is suing developer William Plise, claiming Plise has defrauded creditors by conveying his assets to other parties.
Lenders are moving to seize control of a key piece of real estate on the Las Vegas Strip after plans fell through for an Elvis Presley-themed casino resort there. Three first-lien lenders filed a lawsuit Friday in Clark County District Court.
The stock of Las Vegas-based Riviera Holdings Corp. took another hit today after the company announced plans to voluntarily delist its common stock from the NYSE Amex LLC exchange because of its financial troubles.
A second Las Vegas-based gaming, hotel and entertainment company is looking to expand in Asia -- despite financial challenges for its American operations. MGM Mirage is in talks with three investor groups to develop a casino in Taiwan, an executive said this week.
Community Bank of Nevada has responded to a lawsuit filed against it April 9 by hard-money lender Jeff Guinn, who claims the Las Vegas-based bank reneged on promises to fund a loan.
Las Vegas-based company looking in Macau, Taiwan and Japan
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Harrah's Entertainment Inc. is losing money as it labors to service its unwieldy $22 billion debt load -- but that's not stopping the company from looking for ways to expand in Macau, Taiwan and Japan.
Another report Monday confirmed Nevada continues to lead the nation in home-loan delinquencies, with job losses locally offering little hope for improvement anytime soon. Mortgage borrower delinquency rates in the first quarter were highest in Nevada (11.61 percent) and Florida (11.01 percent).
Wrestling with more than $5 billion of debt and weak cash flow, Station Casinos Inc. of Las Vegas today said it expects key creditors to give it more time to reach an agreement on a financial restructuring.
Bad news about Nevada home prices and foreclosures continued to roll in Wednesday and Thursday. A federal agency that tracks home prices said Nevada led the nation in price declines between March 2008 and March 2009, with Nevada prices falling 31.1 percent.
Marketers looking for ways to get travelers to keep spending
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Americans still want to take vacations.
But travel industry executives were told Wednesday that with their limited budgets, families are shopping around for deals and, more and more, are choosing their destination based on cost.
The gaming world was abuzz with discussion Wednesday on whether Malaysian hotel and gaming giant Genting Bhd is interested in doing a deal with MGM Mirage -- potentially for the U.S. company's stake in a casino in Macau.
Las Vegas-area home prices declined in March at a greater rate than in February; and a national survey today found the U.S. housing market has not yet hit bottom.
The stock of a Las Vegas company selling an anti-aging product was manipulated by schemers who profited by having the company issue false information in press releases in 2006, federal regulators charged Thursday. The Securities and Exchange Commission said the Las Vegas company, GH3 International Inc., was involved in a larger case it announced the same day.
Hotel and gaming operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. is trying to have three lawsuits filed by disgruntled shareholders thrown out of court. The company says the three suits should be dismissed because the four shareholders involved failed to make required demands on the board of directors before they sued; and because their allegations are false.
A stock analyst raised his rating Thursday on Western Alliance Bancorporation of Las Vegas after its $191 million secondary stock offering -- contradicting a critic of the deal who said it was bad for shareholders.
Black Gaming LLC today announced additional layoffs as the economic outlook continues to decline for its Mesquite hotel-casino operations. The Las Vegas-based company said 147 of the company's 1,700-plus employees are affected by additional reductions in services.
Regulators in Nevada and Mississippi cleared MGM Mirage's partnership with the Ho sisters for their Macau casino -- but New Jersey regulators don't see it that way and are recommending rejection of the deal.
The nation's economic problems contributed to weaker first-quarter results for the owners of the Hooters, Planet Hollywood, Stratosphere and Las Vegas Hilton hotel-casinos, recent company filings show.
The worst U.S. economic downturn since the Great Depression is likely to end in October, a national economist told Las Vegas convention-goers today. But while things may improve on a nationwide basis, a Las Vegas forecaster said the outlook for Southern Nevada remains grim through the end of 2010 because the recession has left U.S. consumers with little cash to spare on Las Vegas vacations.
Struggling with bankruptcies and store closings, the shopping center industry opened its annual convention Sunday in Las Vegas by highlighting retailers that continue to aggressively expand despite the recession.
Gaming newcomer Onex Corp., a private equity firm with $10 billion under management, says it's proceeding with plans to take over the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas as the property emerges from bankruptcy protection.
Even as the Fontainebleau resort presses its breach of contract lawsuit against lenders, a contractor is asserting similar claims against Fontainebleau.
The stock of hotel-casino operator MGM Mirage fell again today as investors continued to react to Wednesday's moves to shore up its debt-laden balance sheet.
Company reports gross revenue down more than $70 million compared to same period year ago
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Station Casinos Inc. reported lower revenue Thursday and said it expects to reach agreement with key bondholders to continue restructuring discussions past Friday's deadline of an existing forbearance agreement.
Analyst thinks Mandalay Bay could be 'sacrificial lamb'
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
MGM Mirage today unleashed a series of financial initiatives aimed at bolstering its balance sheet -- and signaled its Bellagio and Mirage hotel-casinos won't be sold anytime soon. The hotel-casino and entertainment giant, based in Las Vegas and struggling in the recession to service more than $14 billion in debt. Today's news was not a surprise. After reaching an agreement to finalize construction financing for its $8.5 billion CityCenter project on the Las Vegas Strip, MGM Mirage was expected to focus on debt-reduction measures.
Eight more investors are seeking to join one of the lawsuits accusing Las Vegas lender Aspen Financial Services of wrongdoing. The investors filed court papers seeking to intervene in a pending suit filed by other investors against Aspen.
Suit was filed in February over prepackaged bankruptcy filing
Monday, May 11, 2009
A bondholder challenging Station Casinos Inc.'s plan for a prepackaged bankruptcy filing and debt exchange has dropped his lawsuit against the Las Vegas company, its board of directors and its key executives. Bondholder S. Blake Murchison made headlines Feb. 13 when he sued Station, charging it was not being gentlemanly with a debt exchange offer in which bondholders were asked for steep concessions as part of a proposed prepackaged bankruptcy plan.