Greektown Casino may halt operations unless it gets bankruptcy court approval to borrow another USD 46 million to stay open and finish its new 400-room hotel, according to a court filing. Creditors are balking at the terms of the financing, which includes millions of dollars in additional fees, calling the terms astounding. The creditors and Greektown appear to be heading for a showdown in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit on Monday.
Greektown Casino is expected to run out of cash in December, hampering its ability to continue operating or to finish building its new hotel, which is slated to open in February, according to documents filed by the Michigan Gaming Control Board. The board that oversees Detroit’s three casinos filed documents in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Friday asking that a judge deny the casino’s request for a 60-day extension to file a plan to exit bankruptcy.
Greektown Casino today announced 89 employees will be laid off as part of USD 7.8 million in annual cost savings identified by the casino’s managers and financial consultants. Most of the furloughed employees work in table games, and 70 are part-time employees. „Greektown Casino managers, owners and financial consultants are examining every possible way to make the casino a more efficient and profitable business,“ said Greektown Casino CEO Craig Ghelfi in a statement.
A bankruptcy judge is to decide this morning whether construction of Greektown’s permanent hotel and casino will continue. The project’s general contractor and about 90 subcontractors have threatened to stop work and some have already walked off the job citing nonpayment from as far back as February. On Tuesday, attorneys for Greektown Casino asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Walter Shapero to immediately approve a USD 44-million loan to pay contractors.
Greektown Casino’s largest lender asked it to file for bankruptcy protection as a condition of lending it more money, state regulators said Monday. „Merrill Lynch wasn’t extending additional lending unless they filed Chapter 11,“ said Rick Kalm, executive director for the Michigan Gaming Control Board, which regulates Detroit’s three casinos. The board has been aware for four years of Greektown Casino’s financial troubles…
Detroit – Greektown Casino has filed for bankruptcy protection, but said Friday its gambling operations and ongoing expansion project that includes a permanent hotel won’t be disrupted. Greektown Holdings LLC, Greektown Casino LLC and their affiliates filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit after failing to comply with terms of a credit line. „As we reorganize our business and complete our permanent casino construction…
Owners of the Greektown Casino may sidestep a potential state-ordered sale after a group of suburban businessmen announced it will invest USD 100 million in the struggling downtown Detroit gambling operation. The casino’s owners, Greektown Holdings LLC, already had missed an April deadline from the state to bring its financial performance up to required levels, and saw its debt downgraded in April by two major rating agencies over fears the state would force a sale by the end of June.
