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 Donald Trump received a boost in his legal battle against Carl Icahn on Wednesday. The two billionaires have been fighting for control of three Atlantic City casinos owned by the Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. since Trump Entertainment was force to file for Chapter 11 protection back in February 2009.
They each have a plan that they want to implement in regards to the casinos' future.
Trump supports the bondholder's plan to take control of the company and continue to use his name. If everything went according to their plan he could see up to a 10 percent stake in the company. The bondholder currently own $1.25 billion in Trump Entertainment notes and are offering to buy the casino for $225 million.
Icahn however wants to take-over the company for himself. He has a history of pulling dying companies up from their bootstraps and bought Tropicana Casino and Resort out of bankruptcy last year for $200 million. Trump argues though that if Icahn bought out the casinos he would not be able to use the Trump name and that could be troublesome for both of them. Icahn is willing to purchase the majority of the $486 million Beal Bank debt on the Trump casinos and is proposing to invest an extra $125 million in to updating the casinos.
This latest court decision could potentially put Trump at an advantage in this disagreement because it grants both Trump and his daughter Ivanka the right to vote on both buyout plans, a vote that U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Judith Wizmur has stated she will take into considerable consideration when making her decision about the future of the company.
"It's as simple as that. The votes should be counted and we'll take it from there," Trump attorney David Friedman told Wizmur during a teleconference Wednesday.
The judge has currently scheduled a Tuesday hearing to see the matter of the larger case of who should be able to buy the casinos.
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