Lawyers for a committee of unsecured creditors for Atlantic City’s closed Revel Casino said that two more potential buyers have toured the site, but Florida developer Glenn Straub still seems to be the only one who has actually made an offer on the property.
Bankruptcy Judge Gloria Burns has scheduled another hearing for this week on the potential sale.
The lawyers for the committee said “two extremely sophisticated and adequately capitalized buyers” toured the property in a filing with the court according to the Press of Atlantic City.
“The committee’s professionals and certain committee members also have been in contact with those and other prospective purchasers in recent days, and by all accounts those buyers are ‘real’ and have the financial wherewithal to close a transaction regarding the Revel,” the attorneys said in court papers.
Despite that, Revel has asked Burns to consider the sale to Straub again as no other concrete offers have been made on the property.
Straub is trying to buy the property for $82 million through his Polo North Country Club, but has been blocked by appeals of the sale made by the tenants of the property—which operated profitable restaurants and a nightclub at the casino—in federal court and also by disputes with ACR Energy, the casino’s sole energy provider.
The unsecured creditors committee had supported the sale to Straub, but has now asked Burns not to approve the sale while other potential buyers consider submitting their own offers.
“In short, while the committee’s professionals previously had been extremely skeptical regarding the prospect of obtaining a higher and better bid than the … Polo North bid, there seems now to be a realistic chance that such a bid can be received if potential buyers are provided some modest additional time to complete their diligence and negotiate with stakeholders, including ACR Energy Partners, LLC with regard to an energy services agreement,” the court filing said.
The filing comes as Izek Shomof, a Los Angeles real estate investor who had been interested in the property told Bloomberg News that he will not make a bid for the casino because he could not reach an agreement with ACR.
Though the sale to Straub has a March 31 deadline, Burns has ruled that she can’t approve the sale while the tenant’s appeal of an earlier sale order—also to Straub for $95.4 million at that time—is working its way through federal appeals court.
Straub did not finalize that deal, instead reaching a second deal with Revel for $82 million. However, in the first sale order, Burns ruled that Straub could buy the property without considering the leases on the property. The tenants appealed that ruling.
A federal appeals judge blocked that order while the tenant’s appeal plays out.
Revel attorneys still sought another hearing on the Straub sale, even though it remains essentially the same as the previous sale Burns ruled she could not move on.
With requests for numerous hearing dates on different issues from different interested parties, Burns scheduled another hearing on the sale for April 2.
