%1

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission yesterday approved Revel Casino's reorganization plan, which will eliminate $1.2 billion of its $1.5 billion in debt by giving lenders an 82 percent ownership stake, the Associated Press yesterday. The casino's plan was also approved by a bankruptcy court judge on Monday. Revel posted a $149 million operating loss from its April 2, 2012, opening through the end of March 2013. It has ranked near the bottom of Atlantic City's 12 casinos in terms of the amount of money won from gamblers. When it emerges from bankruptcy next week, Revel will carry $272 million in debt. Yet it still does not expect to turn a steady profit until the summer of 2014, said Dennis Stogsdill, Revel's chief restructuring officer.

A bankruptcy court judge yesterday approved the Revel Casino's chapter 11 reorganization plan that wipes out most of its debt and provides new money for it to operate, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge Judith Wizmur approved Revel's plan to grant an 82 percent ownership stake to lenders in return for canceling $1.2 billion worth of debt. Revel's annual interest payments will fall from $102 million to $46 million. The casino plans to put money that previously went toward debt to operations now. Before filing for chapter 11 protection in March, Revel had $1.52 billion in debt. Upon its exit from bankruptcy court, which could happen within days, it will have $272 million in debt.

Billionaire investor John Paulson has put a real estate unit of his hedge fund into bankruptcy to thwart a lawsuit by a lender that claims it is owed tens of millions of dollars related to the recent sale of several luxury resorts, Reuters reported yesterday. According to court filings on Wednesday, MSR Hotels & Resorts Inc. sought chapter 11 protection from creditors to sell its remaining assets and wind down. MSR in February won court approval to sell four resorts to the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. sovereign wealth fund for $1.5 billion, including assumed debt, court papers show.

Revel AC Inc., an Atlantic City, N.J., casino owner trying to exit bankruptcy next month, asked a judge to disband an official committee of unsecured creditors, calling its potential oversight unnecessary, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The committee, known as the OCUC, should be disbanded because it has only one member left after two others resigned, Revel said in court papers filed yesterday. The company also said that it expects a court to confirm its reorganization plan in about three weeks. Also today, Bankruptcy Judge Judith H. Wizmur gave the company final approval for its plan to borrow as much as $250 million to help finance the bankruptcy case. About $42 million of the loan will involve new money Revel can use, while $208 million is existing debt.

Atlantic City's newest casino is turning to layoffs to help it deal with financial problems as it works its way through bankruptcy court, the Associated Press reported yesterday. Revel Casino laid off 83 workers yesterday, representing about 2.5 percent of the casino's workforce. The $2.4 billion resort opened a year ago, but has languished near the bottom of Atlantic City's 12 casinos in terms of the amount of money won from gamblers. Revel filed for chapter 11 protection last month in a deal worked out in advance with its lenders. It hopes to emerge from bankruptcy court by early summer with a deal that will wipe out 82 percent of its $1.5 billion debt by converting most of it into equity for lenders.

Revel, a centerpiece of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's (R) effort to revitalize Atlantic City, said it hopes to complete a pre-packaged chapter 11 restructuring within 60 days after the casino filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, Reuters reported yesterday. With help from $250 million of financing, Revel expects to continue operations during the restructuring after its chapter 11 filing. The restructuring plan calls for debt to be reduced by 82 percent to $272 million from $1.52 billion through a debt-for-equity swap. Lenders include Canyon Capital Advisors and Chatham Asset Management, which are expected to become owners after the bankruptcy ends.

Revel, a lavish Atlantic City casino that opened less than a year ago, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday under a plan that would turn over control to lenders and eliminate more than $1 billion of debt, Reuters reported yesterday. The company's expected chapter 11 filing culminates a rapid decline for a complex that cost $2.4 billion to build and had been expected to bring Las Vegas-style glitz to a city where gambling revenue had fallen for several years. Under the plan, Revel will slash its debt to $272 million from about $1.52 billion through a debt-for-equity conversion. The plan has secured more than the number of lenders' votes required for the court to approve it, Revel added.

Kevin DeSanctis, the man who guided Atlantic City's Revel casino-hotel through its tortuous development, only to see it struggle amid the cutthroat East Coast gambling market, is stepping down as head of the $2.4 billion resort, the Associated Press reported yesterday. The company announced yesterday that DeSanctis and chief investment officer Michael Garrity will resign from their positions with Revel Atlantic City but retain their jobs with Revel Group, the holding company that developed the resort and holds its license. There, they will work on developing amenity projects for Revel. Taking over the resort's day-to-day operations is Jeffrey Hartmann, a 20-year veteran of the casino, hospitality and leisure industry. His duties will begin once he is approved by New Jersey casino regulators.

Revel AC Inc. will file for bankruptcy sometime in the last two weeks of this month, less than a year after its Atlantic City, New Jersey, casino opened, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The resort will remain open during the court case and the company is in the final stages of preparing the filing, which was pre-arranged with creditors. The company and a majority of creditors plan to use bankruptcy to cut about $1 billion in debt, Revel said last month.

Hotel media provider LodgeNet Interactive Corp. received final bankruptcy court approval on its $30 million in bankruptcy financing, which includes $15 million in new funding that will keep the company running as it restructures, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. LodgeNet received interim approval of the loan, provided by a group of lenders, in late January. That approval gave it access to $5 million worth of new funding. This approval gives it access to the other $10 million. Included in the full amount of the loan, bringing the total to $30 million, is a $15 million rollup—a refinancing of pre-petition debt that gives it priority for repayment in bankruptcy.