Featured Articles Archive - Page 525

Crown denies CityCenter report

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Australia-based Crown Ltd. denied Monday it was planning to invest in the $8.7 billion CityCenter development, but MGM Mirage's talks with private equity firm Colony Capital appear to be moving forward. Bloomberg News reported that Colony, which owns the Las Vegas Hilton and owns 75.9 percent of Station Casinos, might invest in MGM Mirage's corporate-level debt secured by taking out a lien on one or more of the company's casinos. Joe Fath, a gaming analyst with fund manager T...read more

Greek Isles files for bankruptcy

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- The majority owner of the Greek Isles blamed "greedy hedge-fund guys" interested in wiping out the current owners' equity stake for pushing the property into Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday. Harold Rothstein said the Greek Isles' creditors have already taken $14 million in fees and interest out of the property since the financial markets collapsed. "The ownership of the property was negotiating in good faith to reorganize and reposition the property," Rothstein said...read more

MGM Mirage to sell Biloxi, Detroit resorts

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- MGM Mirage has officially put the company's resorts in Detroit and Biloxi, Miss., on the market. The casino operator hired Wall Street investment firm Morgan Stanley to evaluate sales offers for the MGM Grand Detroit and the Beau Rivage, which could fetch the company between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, according to analysts. The potential sales, if completed, would help MGM Mirage resolve some of the company's liquidity issues surrounding some $13.5 billion in long-term debt, which is looming over the casino operator's balance sheet. One gaming analyst believes MGM Mirage is under pressure from its lenders, who gave the company a two-month stay from meeting covenants on its debt obligations, to sell the two resorts. "The May 15th date is looming and the banks may be pushing this," Joe Fath, a gaming analyst for fund manager T...read more

Gambling and the Law: Of Course It's A Depression

"Buy when there is blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own." Baron Nathan Rothschild There is a generally accepted definition of an economic recession – a decline in gross domestic product for two consecutive quarters...read more

Exec says strip resorts too pricey

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Financially strapped casino operators may be asking too steep a price for Strip resorts that are potentially on the market, according to a high- ranking executive with Penn National Gaming, the company most often linked to possible purchases. However, a spokesman for Penn National, a regional casino operator located in Wyomissing, Pa., said the company continues to be interested in acquiring a Strip resort. During an investors conference in New York this week, Penn National Chief Financial Officer Bill Clifford hinted at a strategy shift in which the company was adjusting its focus from buying something on the Strip to investing in new gambling jurisdictions. Penn National has about $1.5 billion in cash available for casino purchases through money the company received last summer in breakup fees after a private equity firm aborted a buyout attempt...read more

Top-10 first impressions of the Mississippi Gulf Coast

When you talk about gaming destinations in the U.S. the first two places that people mention are Las Vegas and Atlantic City – and with good reason. But there are many other places to visit in this great country if you have a hankering for games of chance and good old Mississippi – the third largest gaming destination in the U.S...read more

Deal Me In: Fire and ice

Dear Mark: What are your thoughts of making all the numbers 4-5-6-8-9-10 in any order before a seven? This of course is the fire bet, which some casinos now offer. The payoff is 1,000 to 1. Norm M. Top thought: After doing the back-of-the-napkin math, giving the house a 25% edge on your play, I wouldn't call it smart gaming. A number of casinos now offer what's called a "fire bet" that pays if the shooter makes at least 4 different points (among these: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9,10) before the seven rolls...read more

MGM Mirage stock jumps at CityCenter news

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- A day after reports that Los Angeles-based Colony Capital might be the financial savior of the $8.7 billion CityCenter development, the project's partners remained relatively quiet. Investors and Wall Street, however, answered loudly. Shares of MGM Mirage jumped Thursday to one of the company's largest one-day gains in recent months on the New York Stock Exchange. One analyst said Colony Capital, a 75.9 percent equity owner of Station Casinos, could supplant or slice into the 50 percent stake of CityCenter controlled by Dubai World. Los Angeles-based Colony Capital, a real estate investment firm that also owns the Las Vegas Hilton and has other casino industry investments, is reportedly talking with MGM Mirage and Dubai World about taking a stake in CityCenter, according to The Wall Street Journal...read more

LV Sands wants to restart Macau development

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Las Vegas Sands Corp. is trying to restart its multibillion-dollar gaming development in Macau while its chairman and founder is kicking up his stake in the company. Stephen Weaver, president of Las Vegas Sands' operations in Asia, told media in Hong Kong the company was in early discussions with possible investors about financing the rest of its work on the projects along Macau's Cotai Strip. "We're certainly looking to resume in this calendar year," Weaver said...read more

Pro draft preview, tax guide interesting references

Avid fans of the pro football draft might prepare themselves for The Big Day with Pro Football Weekly's 2009 Draft Preview (180 pages, paperbound,$19.95), as it projects each team's needs, position rankings and in-depth player reports. Compiled by Nolan Nawrocki and the Pro Football Weekly staff, you'll see the positive, negative and a grade for each player at each position...read more