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Carl Icahn Wins Right to Bankrupt Fontainebleau Las Vegas Casino

Carl Icahn has captured the market on casino bidding. Whether it is a casino facility in bankruptcy or a gaming project that is stalled for monetary reasons, Icahn has found the way to win bidding wars with other casino gaming developers.

Icahn added the bankrupt Fontainebleau Las Vegas casino project on January 20th, 2010 in his stable of projects. Icahn's group, Icahn Enterprises LP won the rights to the casino project after other offers failed to make the cut, according to an examiner place on the case by a US Bankruptcy Court in Miami, Florida. Icahn is not in a hurry to finalize the project, instead, he plans to take his time and study all of the possibilities available to him.

One option would be to look for an outside financer but that would be highly unlikely considering Icahn's group could support the completion of the casino project on their own. Icahn said that right now, they are evaluating what should they do. He said that there is no doubt right now that Las Vegas strip is overbuilt but he believes that demand will improve eventually or some older casino facilities will close down.

The casino industry in Las Vegas has been one of the hardest hit by the financial crisis in the United States. Gaming analysts believe that there will not be a complete recovery until 2011, giving Carl Icahn some time to come up with a plan for the Fontainebleau casino project.

Last spring, construction on the casino project stopped, causing thousands of construction employees to lose their jobs. Icahn has been a master of acquiring financially troubled gaming facilities and projects and fixing them to a point where he makes a good profit on their sale. The Sands casino in New Jersey was one of the casino properties that Icahn has fixed in the past.

 

Thursday, February 11 , 2010
Edward O'Connor