Tropicana Entertainment Asks New Jersey for Operational Control over Atlantic City Casino

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Making it abundantly clear that William J. Yung does not and will not have any influence or control over the company, Tropicana Entertainment, LLC today petitioned the New Jersey Casino Control Commission (CCC) to regain operating authority over its casino and resort in Atlantic City.

“The issue here obviously involves maximizing value for our constituents”

According to company CEO Scott C. Butera, Tropicana wants to run the casino because it believes that there is a better chance of reversing the property’s 48 percent decline in gross operating profits if it is integrated with a larger organization with the financial assets and human resources to invest in its future. The property has been under the control of a CCC-appointed conservator since last December.

“We have assembled a strong, highly competent new management team that is experienced in the Atlantic City market,” said Butera, who himself holds a New Jersey casino key employee license. ”We want to immediately deploy our managerial and financial resources to serve the gaming public and provide tax and employment benefits to the community.

“The need for this action has been made more urgent by the decision of the New Jersey Supreme Court to hear Tropicana’s appeal to regain its status,” Butera said. “The conservator’s sale process for the property, which we continue to support as a way to determine the credibility of current indications of interest, could be delayed for several months, far too long for the casino to be without the benefit of well-financed, professional casino management.”

The petition asks the CCC to appoint a company co-conservator of the property and give him the authority to bring the casino under Tropicana Entertainment’s corporate umbrella where it will have protections afforded under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Tropicana said it will then install a new management group at the property and make investments to improve the casino’s business so that it can be either sold at a fair price or realize its longer term value as a going concern within Tropicana’s current corporate structure.

If the CCC grants the petition, Tropicana will move to file the appropriate applications for a gaming license and ask the Commission to convene hearings – “as soon as practicable” – to establish that the newly constituted Tropicana is qualified to hold a casino license.

The petition asserts that Tropicana qualifies for a New Jersey license by virtue of the fact that the company has been “utterly and completely re-formed.” Mr. Yung is no longer involved and neither he nor the senior corporate team he had in place have any influence or control over the affairs of the company. The company anticipates that Mr. Yung’s interests will be “cancelled and extinguished” upon consummation of the Chapter 11 reorganization plan. A CCC-appointed co-conservator can provide oversight and supervision to ensure that any CCC regulatory concerns with respect to Mr. Yung’s interests are addressed.

“Tropicana is a brand new company,” said independent board member and former CCC Chairman Bradford Smith. “We have a new, independent board. We have a new team of experienced professional gaming executives managing our operations. Most important, we live by a set of business and operating philosophies that are in keeping with the best practices of a modern day gaming enterprise.”

As evidence of the company’s transformation, the petition notes a series of positive accomplishments on the part of the new management team. Among them are the separation from Columbia-Sussex Corporation, the establishment of headquarters in Las Vegas, arranging debtor in possession financing, and obtaining the approval of the Nevada Gaming Commission to operate the company’s five casinos in Nevada. It also cites Butera’s direct involvement in achieving a long-delayed labor agreement with the culinary union at the Tropicana Las Vegas.

“The issue here obviously involves maximizing value for our constituents,” Butera said. “But New Jersey and Atlantic City have a lot at stake, too. Selling the casino at today’s depressed prices could have the unintended consequence of lowering assessed values and drastically cutting city tax revenue. Faced with such a shortfall, lawmakers may be forced to increase individual property taxes to make ends meet.

“Likewise, assuming the sale is delayed until the Supreme Court rules, the business cannot be allowed to falter,” he said. “That, too, has consequences in terms of employment and overall returns to the City.

“These are outcomes that we should all work to avert,” Butera concluded.

About Tropicana Entertainment, LLC

Tropicana Entertainment, LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Tropicana Casinos and Resorts, is one of the largest privately held gaming entertainment providers in the United States. The company operates 540,000 square feet of casino space with 15,000 slot machine positions. With more than 11,000 employees and 8,300 hotel rooms at its properties, it produces in excess of $1.2 billion annual revenue. More information is available at www.tropicanacasinos.com. None of the information contained on the company's website shall be deemed incorporated by reference or otherwise included herein.