andy beal

Carl Icahn Joins Trump Casino Takeover Plan

I thought the story of banker Andy Beal's battle against Donald Trump for control of the Trump Atlantic City casinos was pretty exciting before but it just got a hell of a lot more interesting. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who I most recently mentioned for his interest in the stalled Fontainebleau project, has stepped into the action. The NY Post reports that he made a deal to buy a majority of the outstanding first-lien bank debt from Beal, who holds $486 million in first-mortgage liens on the casinos. Icahn has thrown his lot in with Beal to try and revive the Trump casino empire which has filed for bankruptcy several times. This puts Icahn and Beal in direct opposition to Trump and his daughter Ivanka who have thrown their support behind a group of noteholders led by Marc Lasry, who hold roughly $1.25 billion in unsecured debt.

The Post article questions whether this is a personal batlle, after all, Trump and Beal were playing nicely together until November when Trump swung his approval over to Lasry's camp in return for a stake in their version of the restructured company. If, as the article, says Beal was feeling vulnerable to criticism that he lacked casino experience then he's got a very experienced ally in Icahn who has a history of buying bankrupt casinos (including the Stratosphere in Las Vegas) and selling them for big profits. For Trump, there's both pride and money at stake, and neither Icahn or Trump is accustomed to losing so this could be a business battle royale.

Source

Tags: andy beal, AndyBeal, atlantic city, AtlanticCity, bilionaire, carl icahn, CarlIcahn, donald trump, DonaldTrump, trump

Billionaire Poker Player Battles For Trump Casinos

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Donald Trump's Atlantic City casinos might not belong to Trump anymore if billionaire banker and high-stakes poker player Andy Beal has anything to say about it. Beal and Trump were once partners doing battle against another group of bondholders to take control of the three bankrupt Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. casinos. But now Beal has split from Trump and his Beal Bank has offered to convert its $486 million mortgage on the casinos into majority owner equity. The offer drew criticism from attorneys representing Trump Entertainment bondholders, who have offered to buy the casinos for $225 million. Previously Trump and Beal Bank had offered $114 million in cash for the company but last week Trump withdrew from that deal and instead agreed to back the bondholders in return for an ownership stake in the casinos.

Beal might love the art of the deal even more than Trump. After all, this is a man who won more money in a single day than any other poker player: $11.7 million at the Las Vegas Bellagio casino in 2004. Because of Beal's mortgage on the Trump casinos his bank is first in line among bankruptcy creditors.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Judith H. Wizmur has given both sides until December 3 to try to negotiate a deal. Wizmur has scheduled hearings to start in January to pick the company's new buyer.

Tags: andy beal, AndyBeal, atlantic city, AtlanticCity, casinos, donald trump, DonaldTrump, trump atlantic city, TrumpAtlanticCity