Phil Ruffin's Treasure Island Deal
Filed under: Real Estate Developments
While times may be tough, there are some savvy billionaires who are using their money to get some good deals (like Eli Broad cleaning up at this fall's art auctions). Another dealmaker is Phil Ruffin who just spend $500 million in cash (plus another 275 million in secured notes) to pick up the Treasure Island casino from MGM Mirage. Ruffin, who is also a business partner of Donald Trump and part-owner of Trump International Hotel & Tower , has had luck in Las Vegas before. In 1998 he paid $167 million for the aging New Frontier casino. Nine years later he sold it to the Elad Group for $1.24 billion. MGM Mirage was eager to get rid of Treasure Island in order to continue work on the ambition development for the $9 billion CityCenter project. Some say they could have gotten over $1 billion for the property especially considering its nice position on the Las Vegas Strip. It's not known what Ruffin's plans are for the casino but when he owned the New Frontier he talked of replacing it with a jazz-themed property called Montreux.
Before the deal was announced, Gaming Daily reports that Ruffin stopped in at the Treasure Island. He wanted to eat at one of the restaurants there but his reservations were not there and the staff wasn't familiar with his name. I bet they are now.
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