Icahn’s company strikes $1.85B Tropicana deal

Associated Press

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Carl Icahn’s company struck an approximately $1.85 billion deal Monday that would fuse the gambling and hotel operations of Tropicana Entertainment to Eldorado Resorts Inc.

The agreement includes the sale of Tropicana Entertainment Inc.’s real estate to Gaming and Leisure Properties Inc. It doesn’t include Tropicana’s Aruba assets, which will be disposed of as a condition to closing.

Icahn Enterprises initially bought a stake in Tropicana in 2008. The Las Vegas company owns and runs eight casinos and resorts.

Eldorado Resorts is acquiring the operating assets of seven casinos in six states, including two in Nevada — the Tropicana Laughlin Hotel and Casino and the MontBleu Casino Resort & Spa in South Lake Tahoe — as well as casinos in Indiana (Tropicana Evansville); Louisiana (Belle of Baton Rouge Casino & Hotel); Mississippi (Trop Casino

Greenville); Missouri (Lumière Place); and New Jersey (Tropicana Casino and Resort, Atlantic City).

These properties include about 7,900 slot machines, 265 table games and 5,400 hotel rooms plus dining, retail and entertainment amenities. Upon completion of all pending transactions, Eldorado’s property portfolio will feature about 26,800 slot machines and VLTs, more than 800 table games and over 12,500 hotel rooms.

“The acquisition of seven Tropicana Entertainment properties will allow Eldorado to enter two new gaming jurisdictions and deliver additional financial and geographic diversity to our operating base,” said company chairman and CEO Gary Carano.

Icahn said that when he acquired an interest in Tropicana in 2008, it was bankrupt yet undervalued. “By hiring a great CEO in Tony Rodio and a great management team, and by reinvesting every single penny of profits back into the company, we turned Tropicana into a great casino company.”

The deal is targeted to close during the second half of the year.