Caesars seeks court approval to sell shuttered Tunica casino

Stalking horse bidder TJM Properties Inc, a Florida real estate investment firm that develops senior living facilities, is seeking to buy the Tunica property for $3 million cash, bankruptcy filings showed.

If U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Benjamin Goldgar approves the sale process, other interested parties must submit qualified bids by a final deadline of 4 p.m. CET (2100 GMT) on Oct 24. An auction, if needed, has been set for Oct. 28 and a hearing to approve the sale will be held on Nov. 2.

Caesars sold its other shuttered casino, Showboat Atlantic City, to Stockton University in New Jersey in 2014 and is closing its greyhound racing activities at the Horseshoe Council Bluffs casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa, at the end of this year.

CEOC's other businesses are operating normally, with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) rising 42 percent to $303 million in the second quarter to June 30 from a year earlier.

CEOC and its parent company last month received backing for a restructuring plan to pull the casino operator out of bankruptcy from two thirds of the investors holding first-lien bank loan claims.

An independent examiner's report, which will look into lenders' accusations that the parent stripped the casino group of its most profitable assets before the January bankruptcy filing, is due later this year.

The case is Caesars Entertainment Operating Co Inc, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Illinois, No. 15-01145 (Reporting by Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Frances Kerry).