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Upstate New York’s largest and most lavish casino lost $73 million in the first six months of 2019 and has more than $400 million in debt, raising the possibility that it will declare bankruptcy and reorganize, NewYorkUpstate.com reported. The $1.2 billion Resorts World Catskills near Monticello in Sullivan County, N.Y., is reportedly considering a pre-packaged bankruptcy. In that case, its publicly traded operator, Empire Resorts, could be bought out by its largest shareholder and taken private. Empire Resorts also operates the nearby Monticello Raceway. The casino’s financial woes, potential bankruptcy and possible future plans are outlined in a report filed last week with Securities & Exchange Commission. The SEC filing suggests the casino could seek new loans or reorganize under chapter 11 protection. But it also addresses a scenario in which the major shareholder of Empire Resorts and Resorts World Catskills — Malaysia-based real estate investment company Kien Huat and its affiliates — could buy up outstanding shares and take the casino private. In its letter to shareholders, Kien Huat and Genting offered to buy outstanding shares of Empire Resorts at $9.74 per share. Empire Resorts was trading at $8.15 per share yesterday.

The company that owns Resorts World Catskills and Monticello Raceway is considering filing for chapter 11 protection, Mid Hudson News reported. Empire Resorts, which opened the casino-resort over a year and a half ago, has been losing money, and in the latest filing with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said that if it cannot secure financing to bail it out, it may have to go the bankruptcy route. The Malaysian casino organization that owns gambling facilities around the world, and owns a majority of the stock in Empire Resorts, has made an offer to purchase the remaining equity in the business, but a special committee established to consider options before the company has yet to make a recommendation. Empire Resorts already shut down its electronic gambling operation at Monticello Raceway in April to save money and drive more customers to the new casino and also got the state’s permission to scale back the number of slot machines at Resorts World.

The Great Southern Golf Club, Inc. filed for chapter 11 reorganization Wednesday, WLOX reported. This measure was taken to provide an opportunity for Mississippi’s oldest golf course to restructure its debt that has accumulated since Hurricane Katrina destroyed the course in 2005. The Great Southern Board has been working on a plan to sell parts of their property that are not used for the golf course to build condos and single-family homes taking the profit from those sales to retire all the long-term debt first, then provide funds to improve the course, and to pay dividends to stockholders, if possible. The long-term debt is just over $4 million, and an estimated $1 million would be needed to improve the course. Part of the Home Owner’s Association dues would be used to maintain the common ground and golf course.

Eldorado Resorts Inc. agreed to acquire rival casino operator Caesars Entertainment Corp. in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at $8.58 billion, in a move that would create one of the largest gambling companies in the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported. As part of the deal, Eldorado would sell the property associated with three of Caesars’s Harrah’s casinos. The combined company, which will retain the Caesars name, will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Eldorado said it would buy all of Caesars’s shares outstanding for $12.75 each, with $8.40 a share in cash and 0.0899 share of Eldorado’s common stock for each of Caesar’s shares. Eldorado would also assume Caesars’ debt, which is about $8.8 billion. After the deal is complete, Eldorado would own 51 percent of the combined company and Caesars would hold 49 percent.

EuropaCorp SA, the French movie studio founded by director Luc Besson, filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. after releasing a string of recent flops and botching a change in how it distributes films, Bloomberg News reported. Losses stemming from the decision to handle its own U.S. distribution and the poor performance of movies like “The Circle,” “Their Finest” and “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets” led to the studio’s downfall, according to papers filed May 17 in Manhattan federal court. EuropaCorp signed a creditor protection procedure last week in France that gives it six months to restructure its debt while continuing operations. The studio had outstanding debt of 86.9 million euros (about $97 million) under its first-lien credit agreement and 94.6 million euros under its second-lien credit agreement, according to a declaration filed by company consultant Kevin Tatum McDonald. The company has posted losses for two and a half years, with results hurt by an ill-fated 2014 decision to distribute its films in the U.S. internally through EC Films rather than through major U.S. studios and independent distributors, according to court papers.

Plagued by litigation, liens and millions of dollars in lingering debts, The Aspen Club & Spa (Colo.) filed for chapter 11 protection yesterday in Denver, the Aspen Times reported. The move will allow the company to sort out its debts through the bankruptcy court while remaining solvent, said Michael Fox, Aspen Club president. The bankruptcy is the latest in a series of financial red flags for The Aspen Club & Spa, which embarked on a major redevelopment project at its 1450 Ute Ave. location in the spring of 2017. Work on the project — including a remodel of the 40,000-square-foot Aspen Club & Spa building, the construction of a 54,000-square-foot lodge with 20 timeshares, and 12 multi-family affordable-housing units — came to a near halt in August 2017 when subcontractors abandoned the site because they were owed money for labor and materials. With no more than $50,000 in assets, the company’s filing shows a litany of six-, seven- and eight-figure debts. The largest one, $33.9 million, is owed to GPIF Aspen Club LLC, which acquired a $45 million loan note from the original lender, FirstBank, in December 2017.