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Friday, March 26, 2010 | 3:18 p.m.
Riviera Holdings Corp. of Las Vegas reiterated Friday that it’s in talks with creditors about restructuring its debt – but continued to avoid comment on whether Starwood Capital Group LLC is preparing to take over Riviera through a prepackaged bankruptcy.
Bloomberg News reported this week that Starwood, headed by Barry Sternlicht, along with other investors has purchased control of Riviera’s first mortgage loan at a discount and is engineering a prepackaged bankruptcy for Riviera.
Sternlicht in the 1990s was a player in Las Vegas when another company he headed, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, owned Caesars Palace and the Desert Inn. Caesars Palace and other Caesars properties were later to sold to Park Place Entertainment, which itself was acquired by Harrah’s Entertainment. The Desert Inn was sold to Steve Wynn.
Riviera, owner of the Riviera hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip and a casino in Colorado, the Riviera Black Hawk, said in its annual report today:
"With the aid of our financial advisors and outside counsel, we are continuing to negotiate with our various creditor constituencies to refinance or restructure our debt. We cannot assure you that we will be successful in completing a refinancing or consensual out-of-court restructuring, if necessary. If we were unable to do so, we would likely be compelled to seek protection under Chapter 11 of the U. S. Bankruptcy Code."
That’s the same language Riviera used in reporting third quarter financial results in November. Riviera has so far declined comment on Sternlicht's reported interest in the company.
Riviera, which has nearly $282 million in debt and other obligations, in February 2009 defaulted on its $245 million credit facility after the recession reduced business at its properties.
Also Friday, Riviera disclosed it lost $5.6 million or 45 cents per share on revenue of $30.2 million in the fourth quarter. That compares to a loss of $12.7 million or $1.02 per share on revenue of $36 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Riviera holdings said that for all of 2009, the 2,075-room Riviera in Las Vegas generated casino revenue of $41.2 million, down 18.6 percent from 2008. Room revenue of $35.5 million fell 32.4 percent as the average daily room rate of $60.60 tumbled 27 percent from 2008.
Riviera Las Vegas generated EBITDA, a profitability measure defined as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, of $9.6 million in 2009, down from $18.75 million in 2008.
EBITDA for Riviera Black Hawk in 2009 was $9.9 million, down from $12.1 million.
Somebody please put this poor property out of its misery; They shoot horses, don't they?
burnemandturem:
Are you out of your mind? Riviera is the **PREMIER PROPERTY OF VEGAS***
Walking towards your "royal" $39.00 suite, you enjoy the stink of
old carpet and bubble gum decay. I love the smell of old nachos in the morning. Enjoy the regal "comp" of Ju-Jubees on your pillow each night.
After playing the "high Limit" BJ-$1.00 per hand, go and see Edna James,
the premier has been vocalist from the 40s.
Do not worry, City Center will save everyone.
The Riviera was a lot of fun a few years back, always good evening ameture comedy acts, the gambling wasn't so bad either. I won a few good jackpots in there. On New Years Eve '99 I won a Royal Flush for a grand on the quarters machines at the bar. The wife and I attended a great New Years Eve party that night entertained by Mary Wells of the Supremes, another year it was Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons! great memories!! Too bad the place fell into decline. My VP Host was a guy named Nick Gamble!! LOL!!
The Riv was the icon on the strip.In its hay day(60s 70s and 80s) it had the best shows,gambling and rooms,with lots of comps.
It was not uncommen to see alot of movie stars there.The staff that work there treated people like you where someone,great service.
I hope Starwood brings the past back to the Riv.
It was very exciting when it opened in 1955 as the very first high rise resort on the Strip.
It was a big deal at the time.
Kind of like when the Mirage opened, it signaled a new era of Las Vegas resorts.
Sun Publishers:
Please remove boinicotti from these posting pages, as he is creating off topic postings which contain name calling and otherwise personal attacks which are not relevant, abusive, and are in direct violation to your comments policy.
boinicotti :
You are blocked and will be removed from these pages, have a nice life!!
Environprotector.....this guys is clearly a republican or a fundamentalist of some sort, trying to ruffle feathers by acting as if he is a left wing nut.
I was at the Riviera a few months to see Charo. It was a little sad to see how things were. I stopped by the coffee shop and had the steak special. It was good and a good value. I was really taken by how much effort the employees at the Riv made to try to make things feel right despite the situation. I felt the same way recently when I visited Terrible Herbst for a steak special (and I felt the same way during their bankruptcy). So despite reality, let's keep in mind there are a lot of employees that are dedicated to places that have become very stressful as late and doing their best to make people feel welcome and doing their best to keep their jobs. Yes, we have all seen casinos come and go and each time we seem to grieve a little when we lose a little bit of Las Vegas history. I know a lot of people that speak with pride of having been a part of these long lost properties and continue to have pride in the places they work now. That is what keeps people coming back and traditionally we have also had a lot of respect for those working in difficult environments and wish them the best. So yes, it is bad at the Riv and a whole lot of other places, but we really should be admiring their ability to work with self respect and dignity during this very trying environment. In short, if Las Vegas is going to come back we also need to be a little bit more positive no matter how bad things might be.
Apparently those in charge of imploding the Stardust were given the wrong hotel name...they were so close to blowing up the right hotel.
matadams4u, right on...
I hope that the Riviera can hold on. I have a feeling if Starwoods gets her, they will implode it and build another hotel that nobody can afford to stay at. Somebody needs to put a group or club together to try and save these older hotels. With alittle bit of up keep the Riviera would fine. That's what they should have did with the Stardust. But that's just my opinion, the big boys don't think like that all they see is green.
newman2
please consult with neiman1, then get nowman3 to clear the air as to
which hotel to blow up.....
"Somebody needs to put a group or club together to try and save these older hotels"
Hey, if someone wanted to "save the Riviera" (as in, I presume, bringing back its former glory and marketing it as a boutique property from the good old days), and they actually had cash and a plan to do so, it would be interesting to watch.
That said, to some folks, the Mirage is already "old Vegas" ...
Save the Riviera????????????
That's funny!!!!!!!
How to you fix up a 1957 Rambler? Jack up the radiator cap and toss everything else out.
LOL
How do you fix up a 1957 Rambler? You restore it to it's original state and watch those that remember the past bid to pay up to 100 times more than it was worth in 1957 to enjoy it and relive their memories!
The Riv is passed its prime,implode it already.
The Riveria is a classic example of how a property can be bothced without a master plan.
Sombody please implode it!!!!!!
Please Save the Riviera. Leave the classic places alone for God's sake.
The Riviera really isn't the dump some people paint it. Sure, its no Wynn or Caesars, but its also not the Imperial Palace, either. It just needs an injection of some capital and a much more ambitious management team to move the place forward.
The place needs to finish renovating all of its the rooms to Signature level; replace the restaurants with some names to draw in the people, like Ruth's Chris Steak House, Romano's Macaroni Grille or even Olive Garden; renovate that old showroom in the back and build a schedule of entertainment like they do at the Orleans; and, by all means, improve the gaming to draw back the players that have gone everywhere else.
Implode it! Lots of vacant real estate will be left. A good site for City Center II.