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$300 mil for F'bleau?

Posted At : October 6, 2009 11:10 AM | Posted By : D McKee
Related Categories: Wall Street,Penn National,MGM Mirage,Politics,CityCenter,James Packer,Macau,Steve Wynn,Sheldon Adelson,The Strip,Harry Reid,Economy,Fontainebleau

That's the latest; namely, that Penn National Gaming will put down less than $300 million as a "stalking horse" bid on Fontainebleau. Penn would also be on the hook for the costs of the project's bankruptcy proceedings. Potentially getting a Strip resort for less than 10% of its cost sounds like a good deal for Penn ... until you think about the hundreds of millions of dollars (possibly as much as $2 billion) that stand between F'bleau and the finish line.

Sue Lowden evidently didn't get the memo that Mike Ensign is no longer writing fat campaign checks at Mandalay Resort Group. How else to explain the Archon Corp. treasurer's loud and frequent fealty to Ensign fils, the ethically challenged junior senator from Nevada? Lowden's proclamations provided an irresistible temptation for Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesman Ed Schultz, who sniped, "Sue Lowden's support of John Ensign may have fundraising value to her, but it is a reflection of her own character and fitness for office. She has shown more fidelity to him, than he has shown to his own wife." (Lowden is gunning for Sen. Harry Reid's seat.)

In her capacity at Archon, Lowden could line the younger Ensign up with a dandy post-senatorial job as a casino greeter at her Pioneer Gambling Hall in Laughlin. (As for Lowden, at least she's off Jon Ralston's "Chicken List," after gracing the Face to Face set. Your turn, Sheldon Adelson. Does Sue Lowden have more huevos than you?)

The perils of Packer. Reeling from a $1 billion loss on his overseas casino misadventures, James Packer and his Crown Ltd. are putting some of their Melbourne land on the block.

Not buying it. Although MGM Mirage CEO Jim Murren may have predicted that CityCenter's premiere would increase Vegas visitation by 10%, but gaming analysts aren't having any of it, especially when all the new room capacity is at the high end. Also, it's remembering that the 1998-2000 roll of megaresort openings and the 2005 debut of Wynn Las Vegas coincided with robust U.S. economies. Andrew Zarnett advises casino bosses to look at current numbers as the new baseline -- which sure beats pining for the vertiginous and unsustainable levels of two years ago.

Macanese machinations. Conventional wisdom on the advisability of floating IPOs in Hong Kong continues to seesaw. The Wall Street Journal runs the numbers and finds gaming stocks defying the market's downward trend. Which is good news for Steve Wynn and possibly even Las Vegas Sands' public offering, which is taking forever to reach the launch pad.

Comments (Comment Moderation is enabled. Your comment will not appear until approved.)
Jeff in OKC's Gravatar Pretty good profile in the QoD today, David. Did you get one of your friends to plant it for you :-)!
Regarding F'bleau; I don't see how Penn has the experience or customer base to make this work. I don't care who they get for a financial partner, a regional operator seems like a fish out of water trying to make this huge and high end dependent quagmire work. Steve Wynn and his top notch crew would have a hard time with this. But I do think whoever winds up with it should figure out how to get Glenn Schaeffer involved.
# Posted By Jeff in OKC | 10/6/09 7:02 PM
Paul Shanahan's Gravatar Could James Packer jump back into the Fontainebleau bidding? He has already lost his $250 million on his original investment from April of 2007.
# Posted By Paul Shanahan | 10/7/09 4:37 AM
Jinx's Gravatar Phil Ruffin continues to look smarter and smarter for his deals, when considering the possible Penn/Fbleau deal. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what type of business a resort styled after say the Riviera or Sahara would do for an opening right now. With the focus on mid-range. Heck even a Excalibur style resort, where it focused on a different demographic then the high end would be interesting.
# Posted By Jinx | 10/7/09 8:09 AM
David McKee's Gravatar Jinx and Jeff, I defer to your opinons. Paul, I have the feeling that -- after getting so badly burned on the U.S. market -- James Packer is going to be giving it a wide berth. He's also burned through so much of his available capital that the notion of him being able to complete F'bleau strains my imagination. As for Penn, I really thought they were smarter than this.
# Posted By David McKee | 10/7/09 1:55 PM
David Howes's Gravatar If what Sterling is saying is true, then maybe Penn should only pay $200 Million.
As for Glen Schaffer involved, he was and look where the project ended up.
P.S.: Bring on the Clown! ;-)
# Posted By David Howes | 10/7/09 3:16 PM