Icahn Back In Vegas

Billionaire financier Carl Icahn looks to be multiplying his casino holdings following a pair of recent reports from officials in Nevada and Florida.

Icahn, the largest single equity holder in the bankruptcy restructured Tropicana Entertainment Inc., was granted approval by Nevada regulators to control Tropicana casinos in Nevada, Mississippi, Indiana and Louisiana Jan. 21.The decision still awaits approval from regulators in New Jersey, where Tropicana also has assets.

The deal will not effect the Tropicana Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, which is owned by a separate company.

At the same time, Icahn is set to acquire the unfinished and bankrupt Fountainebleu Resort on the Las Vegas strip, after offering what was reported to be the only qualified bid for the property. A judge in Miami bankruptcy court is expected to review the sale shortly.

Icahn, who exited the Vegas casino market in 2008 with the sale of the Stratosphere as well as two casinos in Laughlin, Nev., told the Las Vegas Review Journal the city has “probably overbuilt a bit too much. But that doesn’t mean it will be overbuilt forever. …

“We’ve always been the people who buy the things nobody else wants,” he said. “I like the business. I think gaming is a pretty good business.”

The approval of the deals would bring Icahn’s casino properties to nine.