Regent casino chief out, talks continue

David Strow

Friday, Nov. 17, 2000 | 11 a.m.

Paul Hanley resigned Thursday as president and chief executive of the Regent Las Vegas after just two months on the job, the hotel-casino said.

Hanley resigned to pursue other opportunities, said spokeswoman Nora Cooper. Hanley has been replaced on an interim basis by Shaun Cunningham, president of Regent parent company Seven Circle Resorts Inc.

A search for a permanent CEO is now under way, Cooper said.

Hanley joined the Regent just two months ago from Regent International Hotels, where he served as president. Hanley had replaced Darrell Luery, who remains vice chairman of the resort's general partnership. Cunningham is the fourth executive to serve in the Regent CEO's role this year.

Having failed to attract local and tourist gamblers in sufficient numbers, the Regent halted payments in $120 million in junk bonds in late September, just two weeks after Hanley took over as the Regent's CEO.

That put the Regent -- formerly called the Resort at Summerlin -- in default on $220 million in debt. As negotiations with lenders began, the Regent laid off several hundred employees in October in an effort to control costs.

Hans Jecklin, the owner and founder of Seven Circle parent Swiss Casinos AG, wants to take the company public but the financial struggles of the Regent Las Vegas could be an obstacle to this plan.

Jecklin has applied for casino licenses in Switzerland, but the company can only go on the market once it has received them.

Although Jecklin's Swiss Casinos AG and his Swiss Casinos of America have no legal or financial relationship, the difficulties in Las Vegas could nevertheless hurt the image of the Swiss company, the Swiss media reported last month.

Jecklin, it was reported, will most likely attempt to keep the Regent in business by filing for voluntary bankruptcy.

Cooper said this morning she didn't know if the Regent planned to file for bankruptcy.

"The owners and lenders are trying to come to a consensual agreement to solve some of our business problems," Cooper said. "But that's all I know about that."