Riviera suitor presses bid as firm posts loss

Tuesday, April 22, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Fabrizio Boccardi, the Italian entrepreneur who has made an unsolicited bid to buy the ailing Riviera casino in Las Vegas, pressed his offer in advance of the company's earnings release this morning.

But in its quarterly earnings report, Riviera owner Riviera Holdings made no mention of Boccardi's bid. Riviera reported a quarterly loss of $2.16 million or 62 cents per share vs. a loss of $2.83 million or 82 cents in the 2002 first quarter.

Boccardi bid $8.50 a share for the casino on April 3. Since then, its shares have more than doubled in value.

Boccardi said he was "reaffirming" his offer after being approached by several of the company's bondholders. He says Riviera executives have demanded he put up a $10 million non-refundable deposit to back up his bid. He says he's willing to make the deposit, but that it must be refundable pending agreed-upon points of due-diligence research and discussions with bond holders.

The bid, which is backed by several investors including the French casino operator Groupe Partouche, amounts to $30 million in cash plus the assumption of $216 million in debt, Boccardi says. The offer also includes $6.5 million in cash to buy out a retirement trust for William Westerman, Riviera's chairman. Boccardi has said he is alternatively willing to buy the Riviera casino alone for $135 million in cash.