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The owner of the struggling Revel casino in Atlantic City, N.J., is preparing to file for chapter 11 protection in the coming weeks, less than a year after the casino opened, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Revel AC Inc., which carries about $1.5 billion in debt, said yesterday that it has reached a deal with investment-firm lenders on a prearranged bankruptcy plan. It anticipates seeking chapter 11 protection as soon as mid-March, and the casino company is expected to continue paying employees and operate normally during the bankruptcy proceedings. Under the terms of the deal, Revel's creditors will forgive debt for ownership stakes in a restructured Revel, reducing the casino's obligations by more than $1 billion.

Revel, the struggling Atlantic City casino, has hired restructuring lawyers and bankers to mull options for reworking a heavy debt load, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Revel Entertainment Group LLC, whose operating subsidiary runs the casino and carries roughly $1.2 billion in debt, hired law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP and investment bank Moelis & Co. within the past week. Revel has been bailed out by investors several times since opening in April and this month revealed it had amended a credit agreement for the fourth time and hired Alvarez & Marsal, a turnaround firm that helps companies conserve cash and restructure operations. The casino took in less than $8 million in gambling revenue in January, according to state figures released on Monday. Gambling revenue dropped 19 percent from December, making January the second-worst month for the casino since it opened.

Distressed investor Z Capital Partners has upped its ownership stake in Affinity Gaming Corp., the latest twist in a brewing dispute over control of the formerly bankrupt casino operator, Reuters reported yesterday. In filings with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission this week, Z Capital said that it raised its stake in Affinity to 30.5 percent from 24.97 percent. The investor has been steadily increasing its stake since first earning an equity share through the company's bankruptcy. Affinity, previously called Herbst Gaming Inc., filed for bankruptcy in Nevada in 2009, with a plan to split off its slot machine company and give creditors the equity in a new casino operator that became Affinity. Large investors like Z Capital and Silver Point Capital have been buying up shares in Affinity ever since. Silver Point, the second-largest shareholder, owned 24.9 percent of Affinity as of December, according to SEC filings.

A hotel owner that recently came out of bankruptcy is rekindling a lawsuit against Marriott International Inc., saying that the company secretly helped the hotel's employees form a union that helped tip the Manhattan hotel owner into chapter 11, Dow Jones Newswires reported yesterday. In its amended complaint now recognized as the official complaint of record with New York State Supreme Court, lawyers for Madison 92nd Street Associates LLC said that Marriott officials indicated they would not push for the workers of the hotel to unionize, but then helped them do just that. The move, Madison 92nd said, led to higher costs for the company and eventually made them raise the prices for their rooms, which directly benefited competing properties in New York owned by Marriott that were selling for lower prices.

Hurricane Sandy caused massive disruptions to U.S. businesses and threatened billions of dollars in damage to a region packed with corporate headquarters, retail stores and transportation hubs, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Estimates for the financial consequences of the storm in the U.S. run to the billions of dollars. Disaster-modeling company Eqecat said the storm could cost the insurers between $5 billion and $10 billion. The Global Business Travel Association last year estimated that a large hurricane costs airlines, Amtrak, rental car companies and hotels nearly $700 million in lost or deferred business-travel spending. The broader impacts on the U.S. economy should be "noticeable but temporary," said economists at Moody's Analytics.

Contractors rather than banks are entitled to receive a $100 million payout from the Fontainebleau Las Vegas bankruptcy case, the Nevada Supreme Court said in an opinion yesterday, VegasInc.com reported yesterday. Attorneys said that the opinion is significant for Nevada contracting companies because it gives them more protections in situations like those involving the $2.9 billion Fontainebleau, a casino resort that failed while still under construction in 2009. The failure left lenders, bondholders and contractors owed some $2.1 billion and caused hardships for some contractors that had their own bills to pay. With just $100 million available to pay Fontainebleau debts after the project was auctioned to investor Carl Icahn during its bankruptcy, court fights have been raging around the country over that money, as well as claims that Fontainebleau’s nonbankrupt developer misled lenders and is liable for their losses.

The owner of the Reno, Nev., Silver Legacy Resort and Casino received bankruptcy-court approval of its chapter 11 restructuring plan, which will allow the casino to emerge from bankruptcy within weeks, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. The plan confirmation, filed on Tuesday, comes after majority noteholder Black Diamond Capital Management agreed to support the plan, under threat of having its vote disqualified completely.

Upstate New York ski resort Greek Peak received the bankruptcy court's approval to access bankruptcy financing being provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), a situation the agency called "unprecedented" in court documents, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Bankruptcy Judge Margaret Cangilos-Ruiz approved the $1.8 million worth of financing that will allow Greek Peak to continue operations during its chapter 11 case on Tuesday. The FDIC, usually tasked with unwinding failed banks, became involved in this case after the failure of Tennessee Commerce Bank.

Arguing that tribal leaders have the power to seek bankruptcy protection for their businesses on reservation land, attorneys for the Santa Ysabel Resort and Casino defended the company's request for chapter 11 against creditors who want the case thrown out, Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. Leaders of the San Diego-area casino, which is owned and run by the Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel, said that they agreed to put the casino in bankruptcy on July 2 as they strained to pay back more than $40 million owed to lenders and others who lent money for the gambling operation's construction in 2007. Casino attorney Ron Bender said in court papers that the casino deserves bankruptcy protection even though the pages of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code do not directly mention Indian tribes.

Singapore's real estate investment arm is offering to buy four U.S. luxury resorts from hedge fund Paulson & Co. for $1.5 billion, subject to higher bids at a bankruptcy auction, Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review reported yesterday. Paulson, as the leader of the resorts' ownership group, is proposing an Oct. 25 auction for such properties as the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa in Maui, Hawaii, according to bankruptcy court papers filed on Friday. GIC RE, the real estate-focused unit of Singapore's sovereign-wealth fund, is offering to serve as stalking horse at the auction and lead off the bidding. Its $1.5 billion offer includes $360 million in debt forgiveness and $1.1 billion in cash.