Detroit's Ilitch family buying half of Atlantic City casino

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A New York hedge fund said Tuesday it is selling as much as half its ownership of Atlantic City's Ocean Casino to the Ilitch family, which owns professional sports teams, a nationwide pizza chain and a casino in Detroit.

Officials of Luxor Capital Group LP told The Associated Press they have reached a deal with the Ilitch organization to acquire, through an affiliate, up to half the ownership of the casino.

Ilitch, which owns the Detroit Tigers baseball and Red Wings hockey teams, the Little Caesars pizza chain, and Detroit's MotorCity Casino Hotel, has already applied to New Jersey regulators for interim approval to own part of the casino.

The deal would close after all regulatory approvals have been obtained.

The amount of the Ilitch family's investment was not disclosed.

“We are extremely excited about the proposed investment by the Ilitch organization, which, if approved, will give Ocean access to growth capital and provide a strategic partner to Luxor,” the hedge fund said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing to grow Ocean in partnership with the Ilitch organization for years to come.”

The Ocean casino opened nine years ago as Revel, the $2.4 billion resort that immediately ran into financial trouble, leading to two bankruptcy filings and its closure after just over two years of operation.

Colorado developer Bruce Deifik bought it in January 2018 for $200 million, and reopened it that summer. But he quickly ran out of money. Luxor, which was one of his lenders, assumed ownership of the casino in January 2019 in return for canceling Deifik’s debt. Deifik was killed in a car accident in April 2019.

In May 2020, New Jersey regulators gave Luxor final approval to own and operate the casino. At that hearing, Michael...

source https://www.chron.com/business/article/Detroit-s-Ilitch-family-buying-half-of-Atlantic-16079995.php