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New objections filed in Station Casinos bankruptcy case
Friday, July 2, 2010 | 10:15 a.m.
Sun Archives
- Station Casinos, Herbst Gaming fight bondholders in bankruptcy cases (6-17-2010)
- Station Casinos bondholders seek delay in auction process (6-9-2010)
- Judge OKs Station Casinos’ plan to sell 11 casinos (5-28-2010)
- Judge deals blow to Culinary Union effort in Station Casinos bankruptcy case (5-27-2010)
- New objections filed to Station Casinos bankruptcy plan (5-25-2010)
- Station Casinos loses $53.5 million in first quarter (5-17-2010)
- Station Casinos: No competitive advantage under bankruptcy plan (4-29-2010)
- Station Casinos: Boyd Gaming meddling in bankruptcy case (4-28-2010)
- Boyd Gaming objects to Station Casinos reorganization plan (4-22-2010)
- Union-backed group critical of Station reorganization plan (4-21-2010)
- Creditors attack Station Casinos bankruptcy plan (4-21-2010)
- Key lenders agree to Station Casinos reorganization plan (4-19-2010)
- Station Casinos asks judge for extension in bankruptcy case (4-8-2010)
Platoons of attorneys in the Station Casinos Inc. bankruptcy case have more work to do as new objections are being filed in the Las Vegas company's complex bankruptcy case.
As the Bankruptcy Court in Reno prepares for an Aug. 6 auction of certain Station properties, attorneys for Station and its creditors are also preparing for hearings July 15-16 on whether the court should approve the disclosure statement for Station's reorganization plan.
The disclosure statement, as approved or modified, is an important document in the case as it spells out how the company will emerge from bankruptcy and how much money creditors will be paid.
Station owners the Fertitta family of Las Vegas and Los Angeles investment house Colony Capital and their preferred lenders have advanced a two-step reorganization in which five Las Vegas-area properties would be spun off into a "PropCo" company and would be controlled by lenders, the Fertittas and Colony. These hotel-casino properties are Red Rock Resort, the Wild Wild West, Sunset Station, Boulder Station and Palace Station.
Eleven more "OpCo" properties would be auctioned off, with the Fertitta-Colony-lender group hoping to maintain control of them as the $772 million stalking horse bidder. These casinos include Santa Fe Station, Texas Station and the two Fiestas.
Two more properties -- Green Valley Ranch and Aliante Station -- are not part of the auction. Station's partner in these hotel-casinos is the Greenspun family, owner of the Las Vegas Sun. The partners are working to restructure their debt outside of the bankruptcy process.
While the Fertittas have said their plan is the best way to move the company forward past the recession, bondholders and minority lenders stand to lose billions of dollars if the plan is approved and some are vigorously contesting it.
The case's Committee of Unsecured Creditors representing bondholders owed $2.5 billion is appealing in U.S. District Court the ruling by Bankruptcy Judge Gregg Zive approving the auction procedures. The bondholders charge the bidding plan is rigged to favor the Fertittas.
So far, the bondholders have made little progress with their claim that Station's 2007 going-private transaction by the Fertittas and Colony Capital harmed the bondholders by overwhelming the company with debt and pushing it into bankruptcy. That deal valued the company at $8.5 billion.
It was the recession, not the going-private deal, that caused the bankruptcy, Station attorneys say.
The Committee of Unsecured Creditors has not yet filed its objection to the reorganization disclosure statement, but court records indicate it intends to do so by July 7.
Two other groups, however, filed objections Thursday.
Independent lenders owed $244 million complained, among other things, that under the plan, Station insiders and others have arranged releases for themselves -- without adequate explanation -- so they can't be sued by the bankruptcy estate for actions that may have caused the bankruptcy.
Like the bondholders, the independent lenders have complained their loans are at risk because of the going-private deal and other actions including Station's repeated refusal to entertain a buyout offer from competitor Boyd Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas.
"In keeping with the extremely 'insider-friendly' nature of the debtors' plan ... the plan provides for an extraordinarily broad release by the debtors and their estates of any claims and causes of action against the released parties," the lenders' objection said. "The released parties include insiders and several other non-debtor parties. The scope of the plan release includes not only the November 2007 going private transaction, which has been the focus of much attention in these cases, but any and all claims, causes of action, litigation claims, avoidance claims and other debts, obligations, rights, suits, damages, actions, remedies, judgments and liabilities whatsoever.
"Given the number of parties, including insiders of the debtors, being released and the sweeping scope of the release, disclosures regarding the plan release are particularly important in these cases. Nevertheless, the disclosure statement does nothing more than simply reiterate the plan release language, without further explanation," the filing said.
"The disclosure statement does not contain adequate information to permit creditors to make an informed decision about the plan," added attorneys for a second objector, Wilmington Trust Co., trustee for holders of $1.4 billion in Station bonds.
Wilmington specifically complained the statement lacks certain financial projections and asset valuations. Its attorneys said that while Station has asserted the bondholders will receive no recovery under the plan, that's premature since the plan hasn't been confirmed and the auction hasn't occurred.
Station attorneys haven't yet responded to the latest objections, but they plan to do so. All told, four attorneys for Station and 13 more for the creditors are so far involved in the bankruptcy case's disclosure statement issue alone.
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What doesn't make sense to me is how the Fertitta's and Colony will remain 50% owners of PropCo, covering the 5 most lucrative properties for a mere 56 million dollars. I'm sure those unsecured creditors with 2.5 bill on the line to be lost would gladly take the position of colony and the fertittas in PropCo instead of being left with whatever, if any, excess comes from the auction.
The way PropCo is being divided rewards the Fertittas and Colony for screwing their investors. The Fertittas already got paid off with hundreds of millions of dollars in cash during the going private transaction, now they get another payday in bankruptcy. This judge is a dolt.
First action by the creditors should be to get Gregg Zive off the case. A judge who sides with insiders on every turn has been 'influenced.'
I do not understand why they just do not auction the properties off one at a time. That would maximize the value and give the creditors the best chance to get any money. With Fertitta hanging onto four real good properties and the other eleven being sold together, it greatly reduces the number of potential bidders.
jaquekeno, you are spot on-the Bureau should be all over this- odds are nothing will happen-again
It is such a joke to read that the dopey brothers are blaming the economy and not the act of taking the company private. Hey, the economy SUCKS, we all get that, but if the company did not go private, it would not have the debt that it currently has. It is that simple. I have no clue as to why it has become more difficult than that; with the exception of the corruption factor. Zive is so very far from objective and the brothers are crooked as a Sidewinder. This entire process is a farce.
By UNLVGrad, the reason all properties are bundled for auction is to undermine efforts by competitors to acquire that which the Fertittas want ot acquire for rock bottom prices. Note, that a bidder will have to pay an additional $75 million to buy out Matriarch Fertitta, as she owns the land under Texas Station. The Fertittas will not have to pay the extra fee. Whom does that benefit, and who does that thwart? Insiders are not concerned with obtaining the best bid for creditors. Their only interest is to finish the rape of the creditors and walk away with that which they should have lost through bankruptcy, were it not for the backing of the good judge up North.
This is getting tiresome. The only people making money are the ATTORNEYS. I don't want BOYD to take over Stations. Look what they have done to their properties. They don't run a good operation from gambling to restaurants. Stay away.
Part 1 of 2
As an FYI to posters above, the reason the Fertittas get to be part of the new ownership group, controlled by Deutsche Bank, is because of bankruptcy court case law called "The New Equity [Money] Exception". The case law has been around for close to 10 years.
Here's how it works. The senior secured lender on each property, Deutsche Bank, gets to call all of the shots on the content of the Chapter 11 Plan. The reason is that their collateral is worth less than the amount of the money owed to them...though there are allegations that no one has actually appraised the "desirable" casinos like Red Rock. The Chapter 11 Plan says in essence (1) We [Deutsche] are in effect foreclosing on everying; (2) We [Deutsche] are going to keep the desirable casinos and land; and (3) We [Deutsche] are going to auction off the garbage casinos, land and other garbage assets, because we don't want them, but because the garbage is worth less than our loan which is a lien on the garbage, we get all of the sale proceeds. We [Deutsche] have made a business decision to auction off all of the garbage in one package. As first lien lender it is our [Deutsche's] right to make that decision. We [Deutsche] have decided that we are setting a minimum bid of $750+ Million (the "Stalking Horse Bid"). If no one wants to bid more than that at the auction we [Deutsche] will sell all of the garbage to a new company we set up, called the Stalking Horse in bankruptcy lingo.
Because Deutsche Bank, as first lien lender, gets to obtain ownership of the good and garbage property, and call all of the shots, they get to decide who they want to manage the properties they keep after the quasi-foreclosure under the Chapter 11 Plan. Deutsche Bank's decision making in that regard, as to who will be the manager, cannot be interfered with by the bankruptcy court judge. Apparently both Boyd and Fertittas had discussions with Deutsche Bank, and Deutsche Bank picked the Fertittas. As a result, the Fertittas will get a management contract for the good casinos and desirable land.
As to the Fertittas obtaining an ownership interest in the entity which will own good properties (definitely) and in the Stalking Horse (if no out outbids the Stalking Horse), they are paying cash to Deutsche Bank to "buy back in" to what Deutsche Bank effectively forecloses through the Chapter 11 Plan. This "New Equity" money from the Fertittas goes in Deutsche Bank's pocked, and they give up a share of the ownership of the entity which will definitely own the good properties, and if the Stalking Horse is the buyer of the garbage assets Deutsche Bank will end up giving up a share of the garbage properties. This procedure, which laymen see as 'letting the fox back in the hen house' is perfectly legal, under the New Equity Exception, which has been in effect in the bankruptcy courts for roughly 10 years.
Part 2 of 2
So the bottom line is that the junior secured lenders, the bond holders, the unsecured creditors, and the Colony Capital and the "old" Fertitta entities get nothing out of the Chapter 11 Plan. Their assets get wiped out.
Boyd, Harrahs, Penn National or anyone else with a big check book could have made a deal with Deutsche Bank, to get that management contract and to contribute that new equity, instead of the Fertittas, if Boyd, Harrahs or Penn National had offered Deutsche Bank more money. They simply did not.
The struture of this Chapter 11 Plan is very similar to the structure of the Chapter 11 Plan proposed by Barclays Bank for LandSource, a $2 Billion land development company in which the California Public Employees Pension System ("CALPERS") owned to the extent of 68% or so, Lennar (LEN) owned to the extent of 16% or so, and LNR (owned by a Cerberus Capital subsidiary and Lennar insiders) to the extent of 16%. After Barclays Bank proposed a Chapter 11 Plan very similar to that being proposed in the Stations Casinos case, a Lennar (LEN) subsidiary made a fabulously lucrative deal to "buy back in", under the "New Equity Exception", for $140 Million paid to Barclays Capital and in return Lennar (LEN) got a ton of real estate free and clear, a lucrative management contract for the properties to be owned by the new Barclays Bank organized entity, and 15% of that new entity. Lennar (LEN) also got a full and complete release of the universe's claims against Lennar's officers for any sort of alleged wrongdoing when Lennar ran LandSource for CALPERS. CALPERS lost more than $1 Billion in cash investments in LandSource. That Chapter 11 Plan structure, while hotly contested by the unsecured creditors, got no press coverage either before or after it took effect, because it was by and large kosher under the bankruptcy case law.
So here, the only difference between allegations of bad conduct by the Fertittas and bad conduct by Lennar (LEN)is that the Fertittas get press coverage for buying back in to the entity Deutsche Bank sets up to "foreclose" on the assets, while Lennar (LEN)got no adverse press coverage under a very similar Chapter 11 Plan structure.
The only realistic question on this Chapter 11 Plan by Deutsche Bank is whether it gives the very broad release of claims of wrongoing, and injunction against suing on them, for the benefit of the Fertittas, Colony Capital and Deutsche Bank which Lennar (LEN) obtained in the LandSource case.
In my mind, all of the other issues raised by the junior lienholders, bond holders, and unsecured creditors relating to this Chapter 11 Plan are just sturm and drang designed to gin up attorneys fees on a losing cause.
One additional comment, in response to the poster above who slams Judge Greg Zive. I've never met him; never had cases in front of him; and have no connection whatsoever to the Stations Casinos case. So you can believe that my comments above and on Judge Zive are unbiased, and intended to provide clarity and information where The Sun is constrained from doing so.
As to Judge Greg Zive, I haven't seen him do anything in the Stations Casinos case which I believe the appellate courts would reverse.
His only "offense" appears to have been not letting the attorneys for the junior lienholders, bond holders and unsecured creditors run up huge attorneys fees for activities which would not have changed the basic outcome of the case...that Deutsche Bank, as first lien lender, gets to foreclose on everything as a matter of law and can pick whoever it wants to be its "new partners" in operating the casinos Deutsche Bank owns, going foward, after the Chapter 11 Plan takes effect.
As we saw in the Chrysler bankruptcy case, when the "dissident creditors" realized they would have to pay cash out of their pockets to pay attorneys to attack THAT New York bankruptcy court judge's decisions, they quickly retreated, realizing that they would throwing money down a rat hole and accomplishing nothing...even though the lawyer holding national press conferences, appearing on FOX, CNN and MSNBC, was saying that the dissident creditors were being abused. That's what I expect is happening hear. Aggressive political attacks on Judge Zive here in Nevada will be followed by common sense once the dissident creditors in the Stations Casinos case have to start paying money out of their own pockets for "appeals".
I've given this a lot of thought, and I've decided that CynicalObserver is really Chuck Norris (with several doctoral degrees, that is), and he's just hiding behind a more sensible screen name.
I CAN'T be the only one, after all, who notices the reverential awe that falls over these posts whenever "Cynical" (Norris) prints his learned insights. All the usual Fertitta-bashers are forced to consider some semblance of LOGIC, and (barring that), at least stop spewing their jealous hate of our company for a few minutes.
Thank you, Cynical (Chuck?)!
Loyal_employee, the Fertitta haters are people most likely who have experienced the management actions from Station's operations. With many others wondering, why did the Fertitia's take Stations Casino priviate? The obvious answer is Greed! Even if the recession had not happened, there is now way Station could have paid off the debt, or offered a return on investment given the huge debt compared to the market share of business Station was relying on to drive profits and growth. The young Fertitas ruin a good company, built by a visionary (their father) for a fast buck.
Remember, the young Fertitas made their pot of god from the Ultimate Fighting sale (1 billion dollar), not by hard work or good planning of the Station properties built by their father. The young Fertitas only contribution to Station property is debt and division among Creditors, debtors, Employees, Vendors and Customers.
If what you say is true, Cynical observer, explain to me how Stations is able to dictate the terms of the auction. Specifically, why do outside bidders have to pay an extra $75 million to the mother of Frank and Lorenzo for the land underneath Texas Station but Station insiders do not? Why would Duestche Bank agree to thwart competitve bidding to the degree that bids may come only from the Fertittas?
@kenodave
"Why do the bidders have to pay an extra $75 million to the mother of Frank and Lorenzo for the land under Texas Station, but Station insiders do not?"
The late Mr. Fertitta and his wife own the land under Texas Station. The "ground lease", where the old Mr. & Mrs. leased the land to one of the Stations companies is in the bankruptcy court file. It was entered into way before the bankruptcy was filed, and way before the "taking private" of the company was done.
The Texas Station ground lease says that the tenancy cannot be transferred without the landlord's consent. Under amendments to the bankruptcy code adopted by Congress around 10 years ago, bankruptcy judges do not have the power to (1) amend commercial lease terms or (2) force commercial landlords to approve tenants they don't want. So, thanks to Congress, as landlord old Mrs. Fertitta is perfectly free to say "I won't consent to anyone assuming the lease, other than my sons' new company. Instead any other buyer of the Texas Station building/business has to buy my land for $75 Million cash". Yes, that may stink in your view, but that's what Congress put in the Bankruptcy Code.
And realistically, remember that the only party who gets any cash out of sale of Texas Station (as a leasehold business) is Deutsche Bank, because their liens on the "garbage assets" are far greater than the value of the assets. So while the Bankruptcy Code may seem stinky or unfair, the only party getting hurt by old Mrs. Fertitta's insistence on cash in return for ownership of her real estate is Deutsche Bank.
@ kenodave:
"Explain to me how Stations is able to dictate the terms of the auction."
Under the bankruptcy cases, the party proposing a Chapter 11 Plan (in this case including the auction) gets to define the plan's terms. The plan has to be "confirmable", meaning that it meets very complex rules, one of which is that the senior secured lender has to be paid in full, or be allowed to foreclose, or agree to "take a haircut".
In this plan, Deutsche Bank has said it wants to foreclose on the good casinos, but is willing to "take a haircut" on the garbage casinos and garbage assets, as long as Deutsche Bank receives $750 Million cash for the garbage.
In the case of this plan, the party proposing the plan is Station Casinos, Inc. (the main debtor) and Deutsche Bank. Under the bankruptcy case law, the judge is required to defer to the business judgment of the people in control of the party proposing the plan when it is the debtor and the undersecured first lien lender cooperating together. The judge doesn't have the power to re-write the plan and say "I think this would be better". As a result, since Station Casinos has said, in essence, "We will do what the first lienholder wants", the judge is obligated to defer to that business judgment.
In this case, Station Casinos, Inc. is acquiescing in the reality that Deutsche Bank controls the deal, because Deutche has the first lien on everything, and the amount of their lien is far more than the value of the assets. Ergo, Station Casinos has to put provisions in its Chapter 11 Plan which Deutsche Bank will live with. The Golden Rule: "Them with the gold rule the deal."
By the way, any creditor of Station Casinos or its bankrupt subsidiaries theoretically could have gone out and found someone willing to fully pay off both Deutsche Bank as secured creditor, and the second lien creditors IN FULL, plus a little money for the bond holders and unsecured creditors. If such a "new lender" had been found, the judge would be hard pressed to refuse to consider such a "competing Chapter 11 Plan". But of course, given the current value of the Stations business and the gaming industry generally, no competitors (Boyd, Harrahs, Penn National) or speculators (e.g. Icahn) wanted to come up with that much money.
When there is no competing plan, which fully pays off the secured creditors, the game is over. The senior secured creditor gets the deal terms they want. In this case it's the deal terms Deutsche Bank wants which are reflected in the Chapter 11 Plan the judge is being asked to approve.
The bottom line is that Deutsche Bank couldn't induce Boyd, Harrah's, Penn National, Icahn or anyone else to come up with a better deal, in terms of cash put in Deutsche Bank's pocket.
If the bankruptcy court judge DOESN'T approve the Chapter 11 Plan, the next step is Deutsche Bank having the immediate right to foreclose on everything.
@kenodave:
By the way, Steve Green did a very good job of summarizing Judge Zive's logic for not delaying the auction of the garbage casinos while the unsecured bondholders pursue their appeal. See:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/jun...
To paraphrase the judge, there is absolutely no evidence to support the bondholders hope of ever getting paid anything.
Ah-Hah! There it is again! I TOLD you guys that "CynicalObserver" is more than a mere mortal when it comes to disseminating this Stations bankruptcy business!
I've decided Cynical needs to reveal his true identity, then run for Nevada Governor.
CynicalObserver, Can you please explain to me how a casino that evidently was built on borrowed money can be built on land owned by another which would not be free of liens. I need some education please. Was this just "understood" from the beginning? If it was this sounds like a really bad situation from the beginning.
Good question Woodman. I am not CynicalObserver, nor do I have his/her knowledge of the law regarding bankruptcy. However, being in Las Vegas for over 40 years gives me an insight of the gaming industry that is not discussed on many of the Sun reports on gaming issues. You have to know the past of the Fertita Family, and Las Vegas, in particular our Mayor, Oscar Goodman. What does this have to do with the land under which the Texas Station is built on, plenty!
The Texas Casino was built last before the young Fertitas took the company private. The land ownership was suprisely introduced to the Judge Zive as part as a deterent to outside bidders. This was in response the Boyd interest, and the Fertitas fear of losing control of the family business. Understanding the past will provide the answer you seek about Station Casinos and the Fertitas Family, this include the relationship with Deutsche Bank and their casino investments.
Thanks Vegan. Sounds like a mess.
Part 1:
@ Woodman
At present, Texas Station's building and business operations are part of "Opco", a series of entities whose stock (not real estate) has several layers of liens on it...the first lien holder being a group of lenders led by Deutsche Bank. (A lien on stock is sort of like a car loan. It's a lien on "personal property".)
Deutsche Bank's remedy because of Opco's default on that first lien personal property loan is to foreclose on the stock in the Opco entities, and thus obtain ownership of Opco and thereby a whole bunch of Opco subsidiaries which in turn own real estate assets. In the case of Texas Station, the Opco subsidiary is the tenant under the lease by old Mr. & Mrs. Fertitta as landlord. All the Texas Station subsidiary owns is the building and the tenants' rights under the lease.
I call the Opco loan collateral the "garbage assets" simply because they are not direct real estate loans on the top-money-making casinos which Deutsche Bank wants to hold on to.
Yes, some may say the lenders who bought "pieces" or "participations" in the Opco loans were stupid. This sort of financing became very common in the last 7 years, when companies with multiple properties wanted to avoid the complications of getting mortgages on lots of properties, and the commercial bank in investment bank lenders went to the deals when there was more lending money floating around than there were good companies and good properties to lend on.
The Opco/garbage assets are those which Deutsche Bank will auction in bulk for a minimum bid of more than $750 Million. Again, the reason they are being auctioned in bulk is because Deutsche Bank that's what Deutsche Bank wanted to do. Again, because they have a lien on all of the Opco entities' stock, they call the shots.
So your question is logical. In this real estate market no sane mortgage lender would make a "leasehold mortgage loan", where the borrower owned the building and leased the land from a third party. However, that wasn't always the case.
@ Woodman
Part 2
"Ground leases" of this sort are found in Downtown Las Vegas (e.g. land on which some of the casinos on Fremont Street sit), on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, in Manhattan and in London for example.
In essence, at the end of the lease term the land owner gets a "free building", unless the lease requires the tenant to tear it down.
If the "leasehold lender" forecloses on a "leasehold mortgage loan" the lender ends up owning the building, but must keep paying lease payments to the land owner.
In the old days of commercial real estate normalcy, construction lenders WOULD make mortgage loans to allow buildings to be built on leased land, when the land was valuable and the lender saw evidence that there was market demand for the business(es) which would be located in the new buildings. However the interest rate on those "leasehold loans" was always greater than for construction loans for "owned land", because the mortgage lender knew that if they foreclosed they would get stuck paying rent. I haven't heard about new construction lending for buildings on leased land in at least 5 years.
Longtime Vegan may know why old Mr. Fertitta set up Texas Station so that he and his wife owned the land, rather than the company. Longtime Vegan may also know if Texas Station was built with a construction loan or out of the company's cash flow. I don't know the answers to those questions. If Longtime Vegan doesn't know, to find the answers to those questions you'd have to go down to the County Hall and dig through the property records.
These guys did the same thing with xyience, incorporated. They bought that company with a straw partner that defaulted after winning the stalking horse bidder competition. Now Fertitta Enterprises, though Zyen, LLC, is the official owner of Xyience and the company Xyience is the major sponsor of: THE UFC. The Xyience case looks like a practice run for this bigger and bolder BK process. They have friends in high places and paid a lot of Nevada income, property, and other taxes over the years they are expecting to get payback for through the courts. They don't have to buy a judge. They pay the judges through taxes anyway. It's a done deal. The Fertittas will get whatever they want, and they'll find a way to make it look and feel legal when it should be criminal.
A look ino the 'questionable' history of Station casinos and its founders.
http://unlimitedfightnews.com/wordpress/...
Jaquekeno is right on the mark. Hard to believe if your a person new to Las Vegas, but yes, the mob is alive and well in Las Vegas.
Thanks jaquekeno, great link. Alot of history there.
Interesting read for those that believe Las Vegas has shed its shady past.
http://www.americanmafia.com/Inside_Vega...
@ Boxer47
I spent my last year of law school with armed U.S. Marshals guarding the door of my "Pension Law" classroom, because my professor, a part time instructor had as his "day job" the Labor Department's work of wrestling control of the Teamsters Pension Fund from a Las Vegas mob lawyer who now has a private school named after him. Someone with the Teamsters Pension Fund had a contract out on my teacher.
I've read former Las Vegas FBI Office Chief Yablonsky's book one his time in Las Vegas, where he opines that "interference" by the local press prevented him from prosecuting one last Mafioso and some of Meyer Lansky's associates.
So I know what you are implying in your comments, from a layman's point of view.
However, it's important to respond to Boxer47's comment that: "They have friends in high places and paid a lot of Nevada income, property, and other taxes over the years they are expecting to get payback for through the courts. They don't have to buy a judge. They pay the judges through taxes anyway."
The bankruptcy judge in this case, Gregg W. Zive, is not paid by any Nevada taxes, be they property taxes, other taxes or income taxes. Nevada doesn't even have income taxes...they have a gaming tax.
Judge Zive is paid by the Federal government, because he is a Federal bankruptcy judge.
Judge Zive graduated from Notre Dame Law School in 1973. He was a business lawyer in Northern Nevada, where the Fertittas had no casinos, until 1995, when he was sworn in as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Nevada in 1995 and was Chief Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts for Nevada from 1999 to 2008.
Judge Zive was elected by his fellow bankruptcy judges as the Chairman of the 9th Circuit Conference of Chief Bankruptcy Judges (covering all of the western United States) holding that office between October 2005 to September 2006. In 2007 Judge Zive was elected by his fellow Chief Bankruptcy Judges as Chairman of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges for a term ending in 2008.
Bottom line, Judge Zive is not a "sleeper agent" for the Fertittas or any remaining mafioso in Las Vegas, let alone Deutsche Bank. For Boxer47 to imply so is simply ridiculous.
Federal judges are very picky about who they elect as "Chairman" of their organizations, and Judge Zive would not made it has high as Chairman of the western states bankruptcy judges, or Chairman of the national Chief Bankruptcy Judges if there was any doubt in the other states' bankruptcy judges' minds about his character.
The problem with the Truth is, no one wants to believe it! The truth is obsolute, direct with no frills. The truth leaves no argument, only knowledge. Good stuff Cynicalobserver. Good stuff Jaquekeno.
CO, You must have poor reading comprehension skills. Fertitta gaming is not just going to be the operators for PropCo, the 4 or is it 5? best properties. They, along with colony capital, are going to be 50% partners as well as operating management and they only have to put up 56 million or so for that 50% ownership and management deal.
As far as the auction goes, Douche Bank is financing the fertittas stalking horse bid in an environment where any other qualified buyer might have a hard time getting financing, thereby almost guaranteeing the Fertittas retain ownership. The only interest DB will have in the to be auctioned, or "garbage" properties is that of a first lien holder.
DB will eventually sell their 50% of the good properties back to the Fertittas or offload it to the public in a future IPO. DB has no intention of staying in the gaming business.
CO, you seem to be able to write a book on the subject, too bad your version is fiction.