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The
Associated Press
Updated: 7:59 p.m. ET Sept. 28, 2004
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - An Internet casino operator said it is offering
Donald Trump $400 million for a stake in his ailing casino company.
Casino Fortune,
a Trinidad-based company, said Tuesday it has approached Trump about replacing
DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, whose plans for a bailout of Trump Hotels
& Casino Resorts Inc. fell through last week.
Trump didn't
return calls seeking comment Tuesday. Executive vice president Scott Butera
said the company had been contacted by Casino Fortune but would not say
whether the offer was being considered.
"We've received a correspondence, but I don't have any comment about
Casino Fortune," Butera said.
Officials at Casino Fortune, which bills itself as the world's oldest
online gambling company, acknowledged Tuesday that they had never spoken
to Trump officials about the offer, which they said was made in hand-delivered
letters over the weekend.
But the bid, which Casino Fortune estimates would give it a 31 percent
share in Trump Hotels, is legitimate, said vice president Dennis Rose.
"We find the guy so vibrant, such an exciting character. If there's
a rescue possible, we'd like to be part of it," he said in a telephone
interview from Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Trump's troubles
The Indiana Gaming Commission has told Trump executives to appear before
the panel on Oct. 1 in Indianapolis to answer questions about the company's
financing. The company was awarded the bid to build a casino in French
Lick, and it runs a riverboat in Gary.
Commission members said they need more information to determine if they
want Trump to continue as the French Lick casino operator.
The commission voted 4-2 in July to give the casino contract to Trump,
but it remains unsigned. Negotiations were expected to finish in October.
But state law gives the commission the option of choosing another developer
if it cannot come to terms with Trump.
In separate letters to Trump and Trump Hotels chief financial officer
Francis X. McCarthy, Rose said Casino Fortune was "prepared to immediately
enter into a dialogue regarding financial relief for Trump Hotels &
Casino Resorts."
Trump, who runs the Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina casinos
in Atlantic City, has fallen on hard times even as his public persona
soars on the wings of "The Apprentice," his reality TV show.
Trump Hotels holds $1.8 billion in debt and spends so much money on interest
payments it has not been able to invest in improving its casino properties,
which face stiff competition.
DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, a private equity arm of investment bank
Credit Suisse First Boston, had been negotiating for a stake in Trump
Hotels, offering $400 million in exchange for a controlling interest.
Under the deal, Trump would have given up his majority stake and his title
as CEO.
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