ToCasino.net Online Casino

Atlantic City’s Revel Casino Hotel on Monday asked a bankruptcy judge for more breathing room in a bid move forward with a sale after the judge said she couldn’t sign off on a heavily discounted $82 million deal to Glenn Straub, a Florida-based developer.

The judge’s decision has left the $2.4 billion resort without a clear path toward resolving its financial woes, even as millions of dollars in legal and operational expenses continue to mount.

During a hearing Monday, John Cunningham, a lawyer for Revel, mentioned several paths Revel could take, but each comes with its own set of difficult complications. One option is for Mr. Straub to buy the casino under an earlier, court-approved $95 million deal stemming from a bankruptcy auction last year, but that appears increasingly unlikely.

“I’m not going to pay the 95.4,” Mr. Straub said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal Monday, referring to his original $95.4 million offer.

The Florida property developer failed to meet a Feb. 9 deadline to close the $95.4 million sale, after a string of 11th-hour appeals from the resort’s former tenants and other creditors muddied the terms of the deal.

Revel initially moved to terminate the sale to Mr. Straub, but eventually agreed to reduce the purchase price. But during a hearing Friday, Judge Gloria Burns of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden, N.J., said she didn’t have the authority to approve the discounted sale to Mr. Straub while appeals are pending.

Mr. Straub said he still intends to close on the $82 million deal by a March 31 deadline, despite the judge’s ruling.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” he said, referring to the Judge Burn’s decision. “There are all kinds of ways to get properties sold.”

A compromise between Mr. Straub and the tenants to end the appeals also appears unlikely.

“We don’t negotiate,” Mr. Straub said Monday. “They are trying to get something they are not entitled to.”

Another option for Revel is to move forward with a new sale motion, either to Mr. Straub or to another bidder.

To date, no other bidders have emerged with formal proposals, though as many as 19 parties have expressed interested in the property, according to Revel’s investment banker, Ramy Ibrahim.

Judge Burns has said that any meaningful offer that could be considered better that Mr. Straub’s will be considered, but so far only Mr. Straub has put down a deposit. Any new deal unfavorable to Revel’s former tenants as well as its power provider is likely to face appeals similar to those currently pending.

A new sale process would also take at least several weeks, and a lawyer for Wells Fargo & Co., Revel’s primary lender, has said the bank won’t fund another sale process. Wells Fargo says it will be owed $75 million in bankruptcy financing on top of $75 million in pre-existing debt by the end of the month.

A spokeswoman for Wells Fargo declined to comment Monday on the bank’s plans now that the sale to Mr. Straub is once again in jeopardy.

Another option, backed by several of Revel’s creditors including former tenants, is to convert Revel’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case to a liquidation under Chapter 7. But liquidation, which would require approval from Judge Burns, is opposed by both Revel and Wells Fargo. In Chapter 7, Revel would lose control over the sale process, and Wells Fargo is unlikely to realize a greater recovery, according to a source close Revel.

Revel filed for bankruptcy protection in June, its second Chapter 11 case since opening in 2012. Judge Burns has consistently pressed Revel and its creditors to try to find mutually agreeable solutions their disputes, but the case remains at an impasse.

Write to Tom Corrigan at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it