Glenn Straub awarded Revel for USD 95.4 M wants to pay less

According to official sources, a federal bankruptcy judge declared Polo North Country Club as the winning bidder for the Revel property at USD 95 M.

While it appears that owner Glenn Straub has finally gotten his way, he's still not happy with the price.

Heading into the proceedings on Monday, Straub was looking to have the final sale price of the casino reduced from USD 95.4 million to USD 87 million. Polo North contends that the USD 3 million break up fee should be applied to the final price, reducing it to USD 87 million.

Judge Could Sign By Thursday, But Straub May Challenge

In the end, Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Gloria Burns awarded Polo North the Revel for the backup bid of USD 95.4 million. She threw out both the request to reset the bid to USD 90 million and an attempt to have the break up fee applied to the price. Burns was quoted as saying, "There was a fair auction. The sales price was fair."

Straub still contends that the auction was conducted improperly and could still fight Monday's ruling. Attorney Stuart Moskovitz implied that the company could file papers in U.S. District Court to halt Judge Burns' decision. Their argument is that they would have never increased their initial bid had they known that the auction would be run inappropriately.

Back in September, Brookfield US Holdings was awarded the Revel casino for USD 110 million following an auction that was mired in controversy. They later backed out of the deal when the energy provider for the property would not renegotiate their financing arrangement with the casino.

The odds of the Revel selling anytime soon are long, considering the multiple obstacles now facing the property. Straub has proven in the past that he is willing to do whatever he desires and we can expect him to challenge the ruling. A challenge to judge Burns' ruling will likely delay the sale by several weeks or even months.

Then there is also the issue of the casino's power provider. There has been little indication that Revel's power provider is interested or willing to negotiate. Rather, they are threatening to cut all power to the facility due to mounting costs and a potential future bankruptcy. It's hard to imagine Straub giving in to their demands, so even if he gets his way, there's no guarantee of a sale.