Trop Emerges from Bankruptcy
The long road to the creation of the new Tropicana Entertainment is over as the company has emerged from bankruptcy.
What exists now is a Carl Icahn-led company with nine properties in five states anchored by the Atlantic City Tropicana, 6,000 hotel rooms, 9,500 slot machines, 350 table games, and $2.5 billion less debt.
Missing are Tropicana Las Vegas, now owned by Onyx Capital and Alex Yemenidjian, and the since sold properties Amelia Belle in Louisiana and Aztar in Missouri.
Icahn and his affiliates own 47 percent of Tropicana and are lenders to it.
“With a manageable level of debt and a more efficient operation style, we are ready to start making investments in sustainable revenue growth, CEO Scott Butera said. “They will be modest and targeted at first, but we expect over time to deploy our capital in ways that will generate significant returns to our investors.”
Tropicana’s ordeal began when hotelier Columbia Sussex bought Aztar several years ago, combined it with existing casinos, then proceeded to fall into trouble, losing its AC Trop license and falling into bankruptcy.
Tropicana is the first major casino company to restructure out of bankruptcy since the recession began, the company noted.